prasad1
Active member
There is little doubt that the manner and timing of the CBI action against the Kolkata police commissioner was guided by a kind of politics which would have done Machiavelli proud. The 16th century Italian diplomat and political thinker was credited with normalising deceit and dishonesty as effective tools of realpolitik.
The Indian ruling regime has been practicing this effectively ever since it came to power in 2014. Of course, the PMO has also faltered badly at times because of the over-use of these methods which yield diminishing returns after a point.
The high index of opposition unity today is in no small measure a response to these blunt instruments of blackmail used by the ruling regime. Still, the trio of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Ajit Doval continually resort to maximal deployment of the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax (IT) department as instruments of political coercion. And most interestingly, they have chosen not to pursue to a logical conclusion any of the alleged charges against opposition leaders within a set time frame as Modi promised in 2014.
Modi publicly committed to setting up fast track courts to try cases of political corruption. He had promised an effective Lokpal as well as a clean electoral funding system. Obviously, the PM had no intentions of doing any of these. He had no intention of conducting a speedy trial because once a case is decided – either by conviction or acquittal – the regime loses the instrument of coercion.
A parallel is the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. If the construction is brought to fruition, the political issue would be lost. So the Modi-Shah duo have chosen to keep cases on the boil to press the buttons against opposition leaders as and when needed.
The Indian ruling regime has been practicing this effectively ever since it came to power in 2014. Of course, the PMO has also faltered badly at times because of the over-use of these methods which yield diminishing returns after a point.
The high index of opposition unity today is in no small measure a response to these blunt instruments of blackmail used by the ruling regime. Still, the trio of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Ajit Doval continually resort to maximal deployment of the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax (IT) department as instruments of political coercion. And most interestingly, they have chosen not to pursue to a logical conclusion any of the alleged charges against opposition leaders within a set time frame as Modi promised in 2014.
Modi publicly committed to setting up fast track courts to try cases of political corruption. He had promised an effective Lokpal as well as a clean electoral funding system. Obviously, the PM had no intentions of doing any of these. He had no intention of conducting a speedy trial because once a case is decided – either by conviction or acquittal – the regime loses the instrument of coercion.
A parallel is the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. If the construction is brought to fruition, the political issue would be lost. So the Modi-Shah duo have chosen to keep cases on the boil to press the buttons against opposition leaders as and when needed.
