Two favourable developments in the country should induce the prime minister to use his personal reputation and act firmly to curb graft in his government, as suggested, none-too-originally, by Arvind Subramanian (“What the PM can do about corruption”, April 27). One, so surcharged is the nation’s mood against corruption in politics that if he sacks his cabinet colleagues who are perceived as dishonest, they can do nothing about it. If, say, he asks Sharad Pawar to leave, will he have the gumption to retaliate? In fact, most of the parties supporting the prime minister’s government have many skeletons in their cupboards and if, in a bold move, he ousts them and they form a new front, they are unlikely to get public approval. So, the corrupt politicians will go but their party’s support to the government will continue, as is evident from the DMK case.
Two, his cleansing job will appear partisan if cabinet colleagues who are suspected of corruption from his own party (like M S Gill) are left untouched. However, the prime minister’s clean image has made him virtually indispensable to his party and so Congress President Sonia Gandhi will have to listen more to him than to her so-called pragmatic advisors.
If he starts punishing the top, action against well-placed but corrupt bureaucrats will gather momentum and the trickle-down effect will follow.
Y G Chouksey, Pune
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