CD players

So one more CD has been released, this time by the newly formed informal grouping of Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan.

This CD comes in the wake of the one that was put out by ex-BJP firebrand Uma Bharti purporting to tell the “truth” about the entire cash-for-votes scandal. Of course, the original compact disc on which the act of bribing three BJP MPs has been allegedly recorded is still hidden from the public, since the channel gave it to the Lok Sabha Speaker who has not released his report.

All of which has turned what could have been a salutary episode into a farce. When the three MPs so dramatically waved about bundles of cash in Parliament claiming to have received bribes to change their votes, there was some hope that we would soon know what exactly had happened behind the scenes of the UPA government’s victory in the trust vote. There had been rumours of big money changing hands and here, at last was proof, or what looked like proof.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, who did not quite rise to the occasion during the trust vote proceedings, was out addressing the press and demanding an enquiry in a jiffy; it was clear that the BJP meant to exploit the situation and score a few points by putting the government on the mat.

But things have not gone the party’s way. The channel which reportedly filmed the sting operation, no doubt with the party’s help, is now refusing to air the footage and there is silence from the Speaker’s corner. Meanwhile, the BJP’s rivals are coming up with CDs of their own; they claim the whole  drama was managed by the BJP. What was till the other day a serious matter is now a bit of a joke.

Though the last on this obviously hasn’t been heard, there is a lesson here. Political parties, especially large and serious ones should realise that dramatics and pyrotechnics are no substitute for real issues. Bribery and corruption are important and the context of the trust votes makes them doubly so, but there are various other ways to put the government on the mat, including inflation and the drift in the economy.

Now the BJP looks to be trying to make something of the Amarnath issue, although religion no longer has the traction with the general public that it once did.  By not tackling governance issues and by expending energy on chimeras, the BJP is ceding ground to others; what is more, the Uma Bhartis now have a chance to ridicule it. Let the Speaker handle the cash-for-vote; the BJP must now move on.