Divine retribution

BS OPINION

Dilip Singh Judeo has, in fact, gone one better. Unlike the late Mr Walker, who invoked God for alms, Mr Judeo has said that money is at least equal to the Almighty. And the Almighty, justifiably annoyed, has had his revenge.

Not only was Mr Judeo filmed taking the money and offering sundry favours in return, the tape was released to the press as well. Mr Judeo has therefore "resigned" on moral grounds (though what Venkiah Naidu, the party president who said Mr Judeo had done nothing wrong, makes of it remains to be seen).

Indeed, the BJP is looking very silly now because many of its stalwarts had suggested that the tape was a doctored one. Now that Mr Judeo has joined Bangaru Laxman in well-deserved oblivion, the party stalwarts who sought to defend them will have to wonder if it is a good idea to issue hasty statements that fly in the face of the obvious facts.

The credit for Mr Judeo's swift dispatch into oblivion must go to the Prime Minister who appears to have learnt his lessons well after the Tehelka episode. Then, it will be recalled, he had hesitated and the delay had cost him, the party and the NDA dear.

In such cases, it is best to act first and ask questions later. Mr Vajpayee has done just that and even if this does not really limit the damage that has already been done to his party's chances in Chattisgarh "" where Mr Judeo was widely seen as the BJP's choice for chief minister "" he can at least console himself that he did the right thing, instead of trying to brazen it out as the Congress is doing in the case of Ajit Jogi.

Mr Vajpayee, who is shortly going to have a crack at winning another term for the NDA, perhaps needs to ask his colleagues to wear belts so that they will not be caught so often with their pants down.

Indeed, they may even need garters, just to make sure. The Congress will preen, of course, especially since this affair ought to make a huge difference to the outcome in the Chattisgarh elections due less than a fortnight from now. But it has its list of the careless as well, not the least of whom was Rajiv Gandhi himself.

In fairness though to the Congress worthies, it must be said that while they have been scoundrels, they were not usually stupid. The exception was Sukh Ram who kept his money at home in the puja room but "" you guessed it "" he is now in the BJP! Shibu Soren and compatriots in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha even took their money by cheque, so there was no need for hidden cameras.

The question must be asked: how many Judeos have not been caught on tape, and what about catching the politicians who have been involved with Telgi in the stamp scam, and making an example of them as well?