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Those that do step aside do it as a bit of a facade. They induct a crony or a family member,a close confidant perhaps, to lead in their absence. Lalu Prasad Yadav resigned in 1997 following charges relating to the Fodder Scam and made his wife Rabri Devi the Chief Minister of Bihar and has only been recently convicted in the case. Recently, Nitish Kumar skillfully picked Mahadalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi who many believe is his puppet.
Even grave allegations of criminality or corruption are not valid enough reasons for our netas to go on a sabbatical. From Ashok Chavan, Mayawati and Jayalalitha who are implicated in corruption cases to Amit Shah, L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav facing criminal charges,all continue to remain at the political forefront, unscathed. The basic canon of our legal jurisprudence is that a person is innocent until proven guilty. Politicians accused in criminal cases often use this qualification to justify their right to hang on till they are convicted. 'The law must take its own course' is the easy refrain. In India that often means years, if not decades before culpability is pronounced. And even when it is, rest assured there are ordinances brought in to protect legislators' divine right to rule.
This resistance to quit extends beyond politics to all spheres of public life. BCCI chief N Srinivasan refuses to vacate his chair even after the Supreme Court's observation that he should step down. Dhoni continues to remain India's skipper.
The refusal to accept moral responsibility could conceivably have a connection to the average Indian's apathy about who rules them. Candidates convicted of crimes are twice as likely to be elected as those with clean records according to the Association of Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch data. Integrity is evidently not a virtue in politics or in public life.
This wasn't however India's political culture once upon a time. Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned as Railway Minister in 1956 after a terrible railway incident in Tamil Nadu and it was accepted by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru because it set a benchmark for propriety. Globally too, the Prime Ministers of Latvia and South Korea have held themselves personally accountable for the collapse of a supermarket and the sinking of a ferry respectively. Both quit recently.
On the other hand in India, the high command always remains insulated, while foot soldiers and the civil bureaucracy are made to pay the price for incidents where 'collective responsibility' must indeed be taken. Former Defence Minister A.K. Antony for instance quickly accepted Admiral D.K. Joshi's resignation after the INS Sindhuratna mishap, but should his ministry have escaped blame?
Politicians are only a reflection of society. And India doesn't yet seem to believe in the credo that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. Or that the letter of the law mustn't violate its spirit as it often does with the 'innocent until proven guilty' theory.
We need more rigorous standards of accountability, but along with venal politicians, it is the electorate that has a bigger role in setting them.
