Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has reiterated that it is impossible to fight corruption in a coalition set-up. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Summit, CM said that a coalition arrangement forces trade-offs on the governments. And this opinion, he added, was formed from his decade-old experience in politics during which he dealt directly with both NDA and UPA coalition governments. We cannot but note with concern Chief Minister’s inference which sounds absolute in its tone.  More so, when it has preceded and followed his party’s connivance in disbanding of the House Committee constituted by the Legislative Council Chairman Amrit Malhotra to probe charges of land grab against the senior cabinet minister Taj Mohiudin. The whole exercise of the dissolution of the committee played out as a collaborative effort by the ruling coalition partners National Conference and Congress to save one of their colleagues alleged to be mired in corruption. The last straw was the NC’s decision to withdraw its two members from the panel. The committee was formed during the Autumn session of legislative council after an MLC from National Panthers Party Rafiq Shah produced purported revenue documents which showed Taj in possession of 13 kanals of state-owned forest land in South Kashmir district of Shopian. But the panel could hardly get down to work, facing a fierce political backlash from the NC and Congress legislators. However, Omar’s acknowledgement of helplessness before corruption in a coalition arrangement isn’t only relevant vis-a-vis Taj’s case. Chief Minister’s opinion has a broader resonance. According to him, the inability to fight corruption in a coalition arrangement has less to do with the moral weakness of the leaders who make these alliances and more to do with the intrinsic nature of the coalition governments. Coalitions in our kind of democracies, he thinks, are inherently programmed to foster corruption. This is Omar’s opinion and we, he adds, are entitled to our opinion on the issue. But therein lies the rub. CM’s opinion here is problematic. For, it can by no means be equated with an individual’s opinion. CM represents a state and millions of its people and these people are certainly feeling uneasy when their leader is so helplessly throwing up the towel on corruption. More so, when what they see as succeeding the present government is another coalition government.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 18 Nov 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 18 Nov 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:00:00 IST