There was a story about the Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Mayawati Kumari, on NPR a couple of days ago. Mayawati’s party is the Bahujan Samaj Party, a primarily lower caste (BC, SC, ST) party, and Mayawati was the first Dalit woman to be Chief Minister of an Indian state. Though her earlier political campaigns were full of vitriol against the upper castes, her decisive victory in state elections in May 2007 occurred partly because she’s now branched out to work with upper castes (she’s said she now favors reservations based on income level, not just caste). Mayawati is also branching out geographically, to try and bring her party to power in upcoming elections in neighboring Madhya Pradesh, and she’s begun saying publicly that her real aspiration is to hold power at the Centre — to become, in other words, the next Prime Minister.
Impressive, right? Well, not so fast. Mayawati is also flagrantly, unapologetically corrupt, and the prospect of her coming to power is also rather frightening, once you start to look more closely. Here, for instance, are some bits from the BBC:
Before the elections last year, she declared she had assets worth $13.7m. Last month, she paid $3.9m in advance taxes. Before the close of the financial year, she’s expected to pay $1.3m more.
Her ever-growing wealth, explained by her officials as “gifts” from her doting supporters, has failed to convince many.
And she has often been caught up in allegations of corruption. During her earlier stint as chief minister, she was accused of approving a project to build a massive shopping complex near the Taj Mahal in violation of laws protecting the famous monument. She has denied any wrongdoing. (link)
On the other hand, it’s not like the Samajwadi Party wasn’t corrupt. It’s just that Mayawati takes it to a new level, and seems to be especially fond of the bling bling:
Mayawati has a special fondness for mega birthday parties and she has been criticised by the media for cutting huge cakes while laden with expensive diamond jewellery.
But, Mr Pradhan says her core audiences appreciate her diamonds.
“Her diamonds are a message of hope to her supporters. It’s like she’s telling them – look today I am here. Yesterday I was like you. If I can get it, so can you. They feel very proud of the fact that she is one of them.” (link)
Yeah, I think I’ve heard that one before: “I’m corrupt and extravagant, because my followers demand it of me.” (No, actually, let’s start with adequate housing, clean water, and jobs.)
And finally, there’s the statues:
Ms Mayawati is also known for her obsession with statues – of past Dalit leaders and also her own. Lucknow’s best-known statue maker Shraavan Prajapati has made seven statues – big and small – of Mayawati.
On being challenged, a senior government official close to Mayawati counters with a question of his own: “How come no one objects when memorials are built for Mahatma Gandhi? Or when the Congress Party puts up statues of members of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty?” (link)
The more I read about Mayawati, the more I think, “hm, maybe the Nehru family isn’t so bad after all. How old is Rahul, again?”
just a quick word on no-bid contracts. there’s a program called LOGCAP that offers multiyear contracts for companies to basically be on call in case of war. basically, the defense dept does not necessarily want to go into a drawn-out competitive bidding process during wartime. there are also situations where classifyed information is at risk and a competitive bidding process would undermine secrecy.
well, halliburton won a competitive bidding process for LOGCAP b/f the war. the clinton admin also awarded haliburton no-bid logcap and non-logcap no-bid contracts during the balkins war, for similar reasons.
this is not to say the process is not open to corruption, but the existence of no-bid contracts is not defacto proof of such.
Last Friday, Bill Maher made the claim on ‘Real Time’ that Bush was one of the most corrupt Presidents. When Jonah Goldberg from NRO challenged him to put forth some evidence, he muttered something about the Oil Lobby. I understand that this view is prevalent in some corners of the country, but I am yet to see evidence which would substantiate these allegations.
When legislators goes to bat for Bachtel for no-bids contract in 2005 for Iraq over everyone (that includes other American companies too), are they really doing from the goodness of their heart, and for some “goey, goey” feeling.
Of course there is no evidence that any of the politicians were bribed. For the 10th time, no one is suggesting that the US has no corruption. What I am suggesting is that the US political system is not in India’s league when it comes to corruption.
Sure, the bribes do not go into American politicians direct bank account. It goes through your spouse’s/ son’s/ daughter’s legal (or lobbying) firm (an example white water), stock options to your wife/ husband/ son/ daughter-in-law, funding your daughter’s startup through some obscure channels, a position on the board or million dollar lobbying job after you done with your Senate term
Yes, but its all in public eye. If its quid pro quo then you get indicted. Go read the indictments of the high profile political corruption cases like Ney and Delay and then compare it with the kind of corruption which goes in the 3rd world. This is my last comment on this topic. I am guessing you are suffering from serious naivetitis or or whatever…………..but I am done.
Condescension is not an argument and neither is ignorance.
AMD, Kush’s basic point is that as societies develop (industrialize, economically diversify leading to increase in per capita income), the nature and the very definition of what is considered corruption changes. many things that are considered “corruption” in India is quite legal in the U.S. (eg., in India civil servants and politicians cannot move as swiftly from the public to the private sector–banks, financial institutions, etc– and vice versa as in the U.S.). All this has to do with who controls the “rules of the game” as it were, relative to which corruption or lack thereof is defined.
That’s right. I think at least in some ways the system is different. For example, You can pay extra fees and get the government service faster in US but it is not available in India. For filing H1-B petitions, If you pay a 1000$ more you get the extension in 15 days, but if you go through the normal route you need to wait for months. A similar scenario in India would be treated as “corruption”
Lets get real. There is no comparison between corruption by government employees and elected politicians of India and US. There are 3 REPUBLICAN politicians who are serving time in the prison for corruption, while republicans are in power. This is not remotely possible in India. The high level corruption that goes on in the US such as Halliburton-no bid contracts is impossible to stop anywhere in the world. When absolute power is at stake, corrupt practices are bound to occur. It is human nature.
Again, I don’t think you got the basic point. Many things that politicians do every day is considered “corruption” in India (e.g. most lobbying activities would count as such). It is difficult (though not necessarily impossible) to find a “value free” definition of “corruption” that applies across countries and is insensitive to context and history. Again it all has to do with who is in control and who designs the rules of the game. Even in the U.S. there are forms of exchange in many “informal” economies that most middle-class americans would consider “corruption” that the participants in these economies don’t…
i meant: Many things that politicians do here every day is considered
This is an absolute mis-understanding of what “lobbying” is. NPR’s “All things considered” had a piece on this 2 days back. Basically lobbying is a constitutional right given to every American citizen. For every one points of view there is likely to another point of view lobbied by lobbyists. Considering “lobbying” corruption is a mis-reading of the US constitution. But most people (including me) remain unaware of this. Lawyers of this board such as Pagal_adami (I hope his clients dont know the meaning of his web pseudo 🙂 ) can explain this better. As far as programs where a citizen PAYs more to get quicker service was also available in India as early as 1986, when in my neighborhood only 5-6 houses had phone and a new neighbor who moved in nearby used to come to our place to receive calls inspite of being rich businessman. He immediately applied for phone in fast-track program and got it within 2 months (NOT by corrpution but by applying via “tatkal seva” (immediate service) )
I am aware of this. That is why i said “most lobbying activities” and not “lobbying” in general. I meant activities that fall under the general ambit of “lobbying” that stretch its meaning (paid trips, pac donations, etc).
also, if you look at the law books in india, “indian citizens” too have many “constitutional rights” in these and other matters. the point is that the enforcement of these rights, in india and in the U.S. require more than just laws in the books. they require real “political” and economic power. for example legally and constitutionally, all citizens in the u.s. have the “right” to form limited liability corporations; yet only a few manage to do so. every citizen does not have the same initial endowments (political and economic) to compete on a level playing field.
Yawn, old news. This has been in the loop since she won the UP elections by a resounding margin
Urban Yuppy Indian is scared of Mayawati
http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/hindolsengupta/104/1744/why-i-am-afraid-of-mayawati.html
Mayawati’s historic victory has left me speechless. And scared. Her victory tells me once again how I, and people like me, have no voice in Indian politics anymore. We, the middle-class, educated, metro-bred, Christian-education raised, young. We, the backbone of the knowledge, entreneurial economy. We, who have no representation. We have no voice. We have no one who speaks our language, our idiom.
And people like me, well, we have always disliked the behenjis, now we are scared of them. They rule. We have no voice.
Truly, the masses have hit back and how. In fact, in many circumstances, I am almost apologetic about by background. It is sneered at. It is also ‘firang’, and ‘angrez-loving’, my love for the couplet and British poetry and world cinema, and, and… and everything, shunned by the Hindi heartland. The people who rule.
Others are afraid of Yuppy Indian
http://www.kafila.org/2007/05/17/why-hindol-sengupta-neednt-fear-mayawati/
Sengupta’s understanding of caste politics – that the lower castes, the ‘oppressed’, vote for People Like Them for a sense of power – is to miss the wood for the trees. Indeed, if you ask Dalits in a remote village in eastern Uttar Pradesh (as I did in the middle of February this year) why they vote for Mayawati, they will actually say that they do so because she brings them dignity, because she is one of their own. In the mid-nineties Mayawati used to say in her rallies, “Main Chamar ki beti hoon. Main Chamari hoon, main tumhari hoon.â€
Red said:
When people like you had power it was the Dalits who had no voice. Looks like you would rather have that. Appears that way from snobbish-ness coming out of the comment such as :
Well, somewhere in the Hindi heartland a “behenji” that you so dislike is saying ‘Payback is a bitch’ !!!
RC,
I don’t think Red said that. It is from that IBNlive blog.
Too bad, provide them some hand kerchiefs so that they can wipe their tears.
I didnt want my comment directed towards Red, but towards the point of view expressed in that comment. Red’s comment did not directly attribute the comments to the writer of the ibnLive blogger.
Modi is the next Pm of India
lots of brahmins voted for mayawati, just in case you guys werent aware. just a decade ago she said “tilak, taraju, aur talwar- inko maaro jutte chaar”. times have changed folks. modi would sweep her for the pm’s seat anyway.
One thing that gets missed in the collective gasping over her income is how politically astute the act of declaring that amount was. all her income is now legal, since she has paid taxes on it and therefore legitimized it. she can use that as a very effective club against her equally, possibly more, corrupt and richer rivals who have not declared anywhere close to that level of income officially (i would imagine that if you asked in a popular rumor poll in up whether mulayam or mayawati is richer, the answers woudl be close)
RC
Just to clarify, the first comment was (if you clicked on the link) made by Hindol Sengupta, the IBNlive blogger. The second was by Shivam Vij, a blogger on kafila
As for where I stand, its ABNM, or Anyone But Narendra Modi
With personal account deposit bank of $1500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country’s foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?
http://kuldeepsinghchouhan.blogspot.com/