Prithviraj Chavan: Laws not enough, Cong must show action on corruption

If the latest pre-election survey by Lokniti-IBN was any indicator, the Bharatiya Janata Party ha ssurged ahead of the Congress on several factors including a wave of support for Modi in some states, anti-incumbency against Congress state governments and the UPA in other states and local factors elsewhere. Another survey by CVoter and India Today  have shown the BJP gaining the issue of corruption clearly marring the Congress’s chances.

While the UPA and the Congress have patted themselves on the back for passing the Lokpal Bill, and though Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been repeatedly talking about anti-corruption legislation, it is increasingly clear that the perception that the Congress party has done little to punish party leaders embroiled in corruption-related controversies remains.

Now, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, formerly a minister in the PMO and also considered close to the party top brass, has said the Congress needs to show action, “not just laws”, to fight corruption.

In an interview to The Economic Times , Chavan admitted that there is a common perception that persons involved in the Commonwealth Games scam, 2G scam and the coal blocks allocation scam have not been punished and that “they are free from any prosecution and back in active politics”.

Chavan said he has spoken to others in the party about the general mood among people that they wish to “see corrupt politicians behind bars”.

In Maharashtra itself, at least two senior Congress politicians have been in the eye of a storm – former chief minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh Scam and former minister Suresh Kalmadi in the Commonwealth Games scam. Chavan is a senior politician from Marathwada and, though he is not off the hook in the Adarsh scam, he continues to wield control over Congress units in the region. Kalmadi is not only back in active politics but also mostly managed the party’s bid for re-election in PUne when elections were held to municipal bodies in 2012.

Chavan also said he believes the Congress in Maharashtra will perform better than expectations. “We will have to bring in new faces in many constituencies and have the right alliances in the state. On the national scene, our assessment is that if the NDA falls short of getting enough numbers in the Lok Sabha, then getting post-poll alliances and forming a coalition will be more difficult for them than what it will be for the UPA,” he is quoted as having said.