"Politics is all about muscle and money power. All political leaders pretend to fight corruption. But they exercise political will only when their is a vote factor or there is no alternative for a difficult situation," he said.
He was addressing a gathering here on the theme 'Ending Corruption: How to Clean up India', which is also the title of his recent book.
Vittal said Gujarat was fortunate, as compared to other states, to have a Chief Minister like Modi who had the political will to take some unpopular decisions.
"He (Modi) was the one to say that we will give electricity in all villages, but people will have to pay (the bill), whereas in some states it is promised for free," Vittal said, referring to states like Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.
"A committed leadership with integrity makes a lot of difference," said the former IAS officer, who served in Gujarat during his decades-long career as a bureaucrat.
Vittal, who was CVC from 1998 to 2002, said 2010 was the year of mega scams as it saw scandals related to 2G, CWG, and Adarsh Housing Society.
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The next year (2011) generated a strong reaction to these scams in the form of agitations by social activists Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev.
Comparing corruption in India with a patient suffering from multiple organ failure, he said the country requires to open fight on several fronts to curb the menace. (more)