This seems to be the season for Mahabharata, as Operation Duryodhan (thatshowed 11 MPs accepting cash to ask questions) was followed today by 'OperationChakravyuh' - yet another embarrassing exposé highlighting corruption among MPs in selecting projects for theMembers of Parliament Local Area Develpment Scheme (MPLADS).
The sting operation conducted by Star News-Detective Intelligence Guild (DIG)indicts seven MPs, and the roll of dishonour this time again is led by the BJPas three of these belong to the BJP, while the Congress, SP, BSP and RKD account for one each. Fiveof these are from Lok Sabha members and two from Rajya Sabha.
Bhartiya Janata Party:
Faggan Singh Kulaste (Lok Sabha)
Chandra Pratap Singh (Lok Sabha)
Ramswaroop Koli (Lok Sabha)
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Congress:
Churchill Alemao, now Lok Sabha (former Goa Chief Minister)
Samajwadi Party:
Paras Nath Yadav (Lok Sabha)
Rashtriya Kranti Dal:
Sakshi Maharaj (Rajya Sabha, supported by SP)
Bahujan Samaj Party:
Isan Singh (Rajya Sabha)
The most high-profile of these of course is the former Goa Chief Minister and Lok Sabha member ChurchillAlemao from the Congress. Alemao, a Congress MP from South Goa, who discusses commissionfor a project ostensibly meant to popularise Konkani language in two meetings.The rather surreal conversations has the former Congress Chief Minister and theundercover reporter discuss the percentages involved - the reporter first claimsthat he is willing to offer 10% of Rs 15 lakhs, but the CM wants it quantifiedin rupees. The reporter claims to be weak in Maths and after some fumblingoffers, "say, Rs 2.5 lakhs?" The CM demands Rs 3 lakhs at first. In the third meeting,the former Chief Minister demands an advance of Rs two lakh, and on suspicion threatens to check the bags of theundercover reporters, who somehow manage to scramble out.
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The sting team is shown discussing commission with Ramswaroop Koli, BJP MP inside his house. The team audio records the transaction with MP Om Prakash to establish that money has been paid and that the MP would get Rs 20,000 for a Rs 5 lakh job and he would get Rs 5,000.
BJP MP Chandra Pratap Singh, who was exposed in the cash-on-camera 'OperationDuryodhan' last week also has his name featuring again in this sting as theclips show one Yuvraj Siingh, personal secretary of BJP MP Faggan Singh Kulaste, a former Union Minister, taking money onhis behalf. Yuvraj Singh was again shown accepting money for Kulaste, a BJP Lok Sabha member, whosigns the recommendation letter for a scheme.
Samajwadi Party MP, Paras Nath Yadav is approached by the DIG reporters where a 20 per cent commission is agreed upon for a Rs 10-15 lakh project. But when the sting team offers him only Rs 50,000, the MP throws tantrums.
Sakshi Maharaj, a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, openly discusses commission and promises to take the sting team posing as NGOs to some other MPs, including Chhatrapal Singh, who was suspended in the wake of the cash-on-camera operation.The RKD MP justifies accepting such commissions saying that it would be difficult to contest the polls if one did not take such money.
Isam Singh, BSP, was shown saying that the issue of commissions on the MPLAD would be worked out after consultations with othercolleagues.
The only redeeming feature of this sting operation was one Samajwadi Party MP, Toofani Saroj,who was approached by the sting team but refused to discuss or accept any commission.
The misuse of the Members of Parliament Local Area Develpment Scheme (MPLADS) was well-known. It has now been documented. The scheme has always beencontroversial from its inception in December 1993, when the then Prime MinisterNarasimha Rao announced it in Parliament, as it placed an annual grant of Rs 1crore (later raised to Rs two crores) at the discretion of each MP for work inhis constituency. It was then widely seen, in the words of former MP EraSezhiyan, who recently conducted a detailed report "MPLADS: concept,confusion and contradictions", "as a political strategy by the Leaderof the minority government to placate the Members of Parliament." Sezhiyan had also criticised it for going against the basic tenets of theparliamentary system, negating the decentralisation process and diverting thefunds due to the Panchayat Institutions.
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As feared, there had been wide-spread reports of misuse of these funds, whichhad also been borne out by the only two two Audit Reports ( of 1998 and 2001)that revealed several serious irregularities. The opposition of many of thesenior parliamentarians and policy makers, including the current speaker of LokSabha, Somnath Chatterjee, to the scheme had been well known. As recently as acouple of days back, the leader of opposition, L.K. Advani, had once againraised the question with the speaker, recalling the suggestions of a committee,that had included such respected members as Manmohan Singh, late Indrajit Gupta,recommending that the funds earmarked for MPLADs be utilised for state fundingof polls.
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In reactions, Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee says he is ashamed, SPwhich had been making much of its emerging unscathed from Operation Duryodhanhas asked its MP to resign immediately and BJP Rajya Sanha MP Arun Shourie -whose entire allotted sum had been given for the development of a BiotechnologyCentre at IIT Kanpur - has asked for "swift and severest" punishmentfor those found guilty.
(with inputs from PTI)
