(Captain GR Gopinath founded Air Deccan and is considered a pioneer in the low-cost airline sector. He joined Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party in January this year.)
Friends and family, and the favours allegedly heaped upon them, have become the flavour of the final weeks of this election season's speeches.
Narendra Modi said at a rally recently, "The country has moved from 2 G to jija-ji," directing his attack at Robert Vadra, the controversial son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi, in turn, has alleged that Mr Modi has offered a massive Family-and-Friends discount to the Adani Group in its business dealings in Gujarat.
Priyanka Gandhi today for the first time spoke about the allegations that her husband,
Robert Vadra, has financially benefitted from being married into the First Family of the Congress. She told voters in Raebareli that her husband has been insulted.
"My family is being humiliated, there are things that are said about my husband. The more they humiliate us, the stronger we become. I am saddened by the attacks, but I have learnt from Indira Gandhi that the truth becomes courage," she said. (
My husband is being humiliated, says Priyanka in Raebareli)
The correct approach would have been for the Gandhis to agree to an independent probe into Vadra's dealings.
The attack against Vadra over his alleged illicit land deals in Haryana was constructed first by
Arvind Kejriwal who queered the pitch when he alleged that Congress and BJP are two faces of the same coin and have an un-written rule not to attack each other on corruption as both are complicit.
Once again, instead of offering evidence in support of Vadra and thus exonerate Sonia Gandhi , the Congress threatened that if the BJP pursued the Vadra story, they would retaliate by releasing information on Ranjan Bhattacharya, the foster son-in-law of Atal Behari Vajpayee. Critics said Bhattacharya had far too much influence in the NDA government which Vajpayee led.
If the Gandhis need a role model for a son-in-law, they do not have to look too far. Feroze Gandhi, married to Indira Gandhi, was a Congress MP, but opposed many alleged financial scams of the ruling party of the day when his father- in-law Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister. He may have caused huge embarrassment to Nehru, but he was admired for his probity and respected as a great parliamentarian by different parties.
As for Modi, given the series of allegations of his brokering in crony capitalism with the Adanis, Ambanis and Tatas, he will do well to spell out how he will bring in institutional reforms to ensure that rule of law and transparency prevails.
'More governance and less government' is a credible slogan coming from some one such as Modi but the country expects Modi to be specific, how he will rid the country of the scourge of crony capitalism which all acknowledge has thrived under both UPA and NDA earlier.
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