No Easy Riders on India’s Gravy Train
There is one basic rule practised by India’s ruling Congress Party – when it’s time to reward a stupid loyalist make him a Governor, not a minister. But Shashi Tharoor, the former United Nations undersecretary general for communications, somehow slipped through that screening process. Predictably, the proverbial hit the ceiling.
His supporters have described Tharoor as an idealist who did not fit into the corruption ridden world of Indian politics. But a more accurate description would be that he wasn’t smart enough to practice the kind of sleaze that works in India. Indeed, Indian politics is an even bigger gravy train than the Indian Premier League, where Tharoor tried to lose his innocence.
While Tharoor remains innocent until proven guilty – his Kerala coterie will continue to bleat that he’s the next best thing after Rajiv Gandhi – in the general public’s eyes he’s as good as a political corpse.
Now stupid is not a word you would normally ascribe to Tharoor but the former minister of state for external affairs, despite his numerous books, awards and citations, acted plain stupid. If your girlfriend is an unknown executive of a Dubai company, what are her chances of getting Rs 70 crore ($21 million) in sweat equity? Smaller than small! But Tharoor’s girlfriend got it in perpetuity, which means free and forever, with a starting value of Rs 70 crore. You do the math.
I can’t think of even one Indian politician who has been exposed like Tharoor. There are Indian politicians who are alleged to have amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in tax havens in Europe and the Caribbean. Many have used that money to build business empires both in India and abroad, but – here’s the difference – they have done it in the name of proxies that can’t be traced back to them.
Tharoor wasn’t just a rank outsider, he was a rank amateur too. In 2006, his attempt to be the UN Secretary General was shot down by none other than US President George W. Bush, who conveyed to the Indian government that Tharoor was too immature. To be labelled immature by Bush, of all people, is clearly a new nadir in public life.
Anyway, when he became the junior minister of external affairs, Tharoor displayed his immaturity in ample measure with his brazen Twittering of Cabinet level matters, in stark contrast to his boss, the dignified S.M. Krishna. Perhaps it is fitting that the Twitter-happy Tharoor was finally laid low on Twitter by another celebrity, the IPL’s Lalit Modi.
Tharoor may well be the last of the outsiders. The elites will close ranks, the politicians will order a probe – a euphemism for destruction of evidence – and the show will resume. With or without its lynchpin Modi, the IPL will be bigger and better next year.
Shilpa Shetty of the Rajasthan Royals and her wealthy husband now want to do an IPL with Indian football. There will be others like them who will want to clone IPLs in other sports, for the sports mad Indian public can’t have enough of it, and there is no shortage of cash – at least not of the black variety. At last count, India had 20 million millionaires – the highest in the world. Factor in unaccounted wealth, and the real figure is easily four times that number.
The show will indeed go on because India’s gravy train is too rich to be derailed.
Rakesh Krishnan Simha is a features writer at Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with Businessworld, India Today and Hindustan Times, and was news editor with the Financial Express.
There is one basic rule practised by India’s ruling Congress Party – when it’s time to reward a stupid loyalist make him a Governor, not a minister. But Shashi Tharoor, the former United Nations undersecretary general for communications, somehow slipped through that screening process. Predictably,...
There is one basic rule practised by India’s ruling Congress Party – when it’s time to reward a stupid loyalist make him a Governor, not a minister. But Shashi Tharoor, the former United Nations undersecretary general for communications, somehow slipped through that screening process. Predictably, the proverbial hit the ceiling.
His supporters have described Tharoor as an idealist who did not fit into the corruption ridden world of Indian politics. But a more accurate description would be that he wasn’t smart enough to practice the kind of sleaze that works in India. Indeed, Indian politics is an even bigger gravy train than the Indian Premier League, where Tharoor tried to lose his innocence.
While Tharoor remains innocent until proven guilty – his Kerala coterie will continue to bleat that he’s the next best thing after Rajiv Gandhi – in the general public’s eyes he’s as good as a political corpse.
Now stupid is not a word you would normally ascribe to Tharoor but the former minister of state for external affairs, despite his numerous books, awards and citations, acted plain stupid. If your girlfriend is an unknown executive of a Dubai company, what are her chances of getting Rs 70 crore ($21 million) in sweat equity? Smaller than small! But Tharoor’s girlfriend got it in perpetuity, which means free and forever, with a starting value of Rs 70 crore. You do the math.
I can’t think of even one Indian politician who has been exposed like Tharoor. There are Indian politicians who are alleged to have amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in tax havens in Europe and the Caribbean. Many have used that money to build business empires both in India and abroad, but – here’s the difference – they have done it in the name of proxies that can’t be traced back to them.
Tharoor wasn’t just a rank outsider, he was a rank amateur too. In 2006, his attempt to be the UN Secretary General was shot down by none other than US President George W. Bush, who conveyed to the Indian government that Tharoor was too immature. To be labelled immature by Bush, of all people, is clearly a new nadir in public life.
Anyway, when he became the junior minister of external affairs, Tharoor displayed his immaturity in ample measure with his brazen Twittering of Cabinet level matters, in stark contrast to his boss, the dignified S.M. Krishna. Perhaps it is fitting that the Twitter-happy Tharoor was finally laid low on Twitter by another celebrity, the IPL’s Lalit Modi.
Tharoor may well be the last of the outsiders. The elites will close ranks, the politicians will order a probe – a euphemism for destruction of evidence – and the show will resume. With or without its lynchpin Modi, the IPL will be bigger and better next year.
Shilpa Shetty of the Rajasthan Royals and her wealthy husband now want to do an IPL with Indian football. There will be others like them who will want to clone IPLs in other sports, for the sports mad Indian public can’t have enough of it, and there is no shortage of cash – at least not of the black variety. At last count, India had 20 million millionaires – the highest in the world. Factor in unaccounted wealth, and the real figure is easily four times that number.
The show will indeed go on because India’s gravy train is too rich to be derailed.
Rakesh Krishnan Simha is a features writer at Fairfax New Zealand. He has previously worked with Businessworld, India Today and Hindustan Times, and was news editor with the Financial Express.
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