Sushma Swaraj says she won't resign. Vasundhara
Raje Scindia says she won't resign. Pankaja Munde says he won't resign. Smriti
Irani says she won't resign.
They all say they haven't done anything
wrong. They all say they did, whatever they did, was in good faith. They say
opposition is gunning with empty cartridges.
Their party is defending them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has maintained
a stoic silence on related developments. Expecting that he would word his
opinion on these matters during his monthly radio talk programme, Mann Ki Baat,
was just an expectation. As expected, he did not speak anything even remotely
related.
Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitely and other
leaders and spokespersons are busy proving innocence of the leaders in
question. Yes, they know they have a tough job to do but they also know that
they will get through in the prevailing political situation.
Yes, the kind of response Narendra Modi got
on his electoral promises did qualify for a changed course to look the norms of
political probity, something that is the normal course as the humanity defines,
but the first test-case is now a missed opportunity.
The ministers in question should have
resigned much earlier, taking the exit route on their own, till they came
clean. Contrary to the perceptions that it would have emboldened Congress and
the political opposition to charge the government even more, the move would
ensured more points of political credibility for Narendra Modi.
Public's trust in the new political entrant
Aam Aadmi Party is an example of that. Yes, the AAP has come in a self-destruct
mode within three years, but it won because it promised to change the course of
politics to what we have forgotten - targeting corruption and following a life
of probity.
Like Rahul Gandhi has missed it - like his
delayed visits to farmers in Maval - like his 'reaction' on the Lokpal Bill -
Narendra Modi, too, missed it this time. He and his government would have out
stronger in both cases - if the ministers would be guilty - or they would have
proven their detractors wrong - deriving strength from following what 'is
morally correct'.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
