Political Partisanship

POLITICS HAS SO deeply seeped into their psyche that even the performance of the national cricket team becomes a matter of political partisanship. Ahead of the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad, a number of opposition leaders seemed concerned that BJP would try and capitalise on India winning the championship. Mamata Banerjee, leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and West Bengal chief minister, virtually expressed her fear that BJP would go to town should India emerge victorious in the final, claiming credit by association with the biggest sporting event in the country in recent years. She seemed perturbed by the colour of the team jerseys worn in the workout sessions, ascribing it to a BJP conspiracy. Yet another case of creeping, or rather increasing, saffronisation, this time of the country’s solitary mass sport. That the final was being held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the prime minister’s home state, that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was headed by Jay Shah, another Gujarati and the son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to boot, that tens of thousands of fawning fans in the stadium were prone to erupt into the heady cries of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” every few minutes, all went to flesh out the devious conspiracy BJP had hatched to exploit the World Cup for boosting its own public image.

Of course, all this in the feverish imagination of the opposition which was prone to see conspiracies where none existed at every turn. For sure, had India won, some of the credit would certainly have rubbed off on the ruling party, especially given the number of BCCI functionaries who were closely associated with the party. And, above all, the towering presence of the prime minister at the award ceremony. Post defeat, the opposition types would still accuse him of trying to ‘milk’ the loss by showing up in the Indian dressing room to demonstrably console the players. It does seem a bit hard for the opposition to get a piece of the action in Indian cricket. But I cannot recall any time in the recent past when BCCI was not controlled by the ruling party of the day.

WE SEEM TO prize academic excellence as a virtue in itself though it does not necessarily guarantee correct, and even lawful, conduct. Any number of so-called highly educated politicians are known to have strayed from the straight and narrow in pursuit of pelf and power. Not long ago, an MP who daily struts his act as an intellectual had found himself embroiled in an IPL franchise controversy over the acceptance of “sweat equity”. Now, we are witness to the troubles of another feisty and articulate MP who seems to have contravened the rules of behaviour for members. For instance, accepting gifts from foreign nationals valued at `5,000 or above requires these to be deposited in the malkhana, just like ministers and bureaucrats. Apparently, Mahua Moitra of TMC did not. But I must add that she is not the first not to do so, and wouldn’t certainly be the last.

Such rules are observed more in breach than in compliance. Even her seeking ‘help’ to refurbish her MP’s official residential quarters is not so unusual. I can think of several former and current MPs who have had their businessmen friends undertake a major modernisation of the regulation CPWD houses. Even wealthy members cannot seem to resist the temptation to get their business contacts to pick up the hefty bill for the house refurbishment. Very often, major alterations, including the choicest marble flooring, are undertaken, completely transforming the drab and uninviting standard government houses. Clearly, spending someone else’s money on government houses even when it is known that at the end of the term one may have to leave matters little to the honourable members. Honourable, indeed.

BANSURI SWARAJ, the advocate daughter of late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, may be headed for a full-fledged political career. Not unlike her mother, the 39-year-old Bansuri, too, is fluent in both Hindi and English, and makes a very forceful public speaker. Appointed a spokesperson of the Delhi BJP some time ago, Bansuri currently divides her time between politics and her legal profession. But before long, she may find herself thrown into electoral politics.

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