The central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is unlikely to gain any political mileage out of its decision to seek the resignation of the Karnataka chief minister, B S Yeddyurappa, in response to his indictment by the Karnataka Lokayukta. The response of the head of the first BJP government in the south to the diktat of his party’s leadership to fall in line with the rules of probity and correct form can be likened to the caricature of a neta shouting and screaming protestations while being dragged out of his chair and physically taken out of his office by law enforcers. The BJP’s ability to project itself as a cleaner alternative to the UPA government, under attack on corruption, will be severely impaired by popular realisation that not only is it tainted where it is a political force to reckon with, but its ability to impose a minimum level of discipline is severely impaired by its most prominent members’ desire to stick to power, come what may. The ideological commitment of the followers of the BJP in Karnataka was always suspect, relying as it did on the support of a single dominant caste, the Lingayats. The latest developments underline the fact that in Karnataka it is not Hindutva that binds the BJP together but caste loyalty. That casteism has taken precedence over Hindutva could well prove to be a watershed moment for the BJP.
Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde’s massive report, centred round illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka, goes further than indicting Mr Yeddyurappa and a clutch of his ministers. The sword of condemnation falls also on the former Janata Dal (S) chief minister of the state, Mr H D Kumaraswamy, and two Congress legislators with substantial mining interests. This is evidence that corruption in India is systemic, stretching across the political spectrum and infecting all political parties of any consequence. Not just this, the Lokayukta’s report has also mentioned several leading corporates and public sector undertakings while delineating the full ramifications of illegal mining. The Supreme Court directive that all iron ore mining in Bellary district of Karnataka be stopped is likely to affect a number of corporates. So the consequences of corruption are visited on many walks of public life, including the corporate sector, which has benefited most from liberalisation.
It should be clear from all this that any remedial action on corruption has to go to the roots of the matter so that the entire politics of the country can be cleansed and prevented from infecting other important areas of public life. This brings us to the need to pursue electoral reform, on which we have dwelt earlier. Campaigns to win elective office are hugely costly, going into crores and requiring the extensive use of black money. A legislator thus elected has to recoup his “investment” during his term. This not only incentivises corruption but prevents elected representatives from taking steps to rectify the system. The leadership of the Election Commission, which has won acclaim for conducting more and more free and fair elections, has emphasised the need to prevent the use of black money in elections. This alone will begin the process of ridding corruption from public life and all political parties should put their heads together to get on with this task.