Twin Towers demolished, but crony capitalists symbolising corruption in Modi govt thrive in full view

“Towers of corruption demolished”, went a shrill voice, rising above the plumes of billowing dust. Somebody called it “spectacle demolition”, no less symbolic than the 1992 demolition of a 500-year-old mosque.

Indeed, the bringing down of the Supertech Twin Towers in Noida on Sunday in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directives generated much excitement, almost rivalling that surrounding the India-Pakistan match held later in the evening.

If the top court hadn’t stood with the residents, corruption would have had a free run.

That said, the apex court doesn’t always notice corruption. Graft has to be pointed out to the top court. Also, but for a group of persistent citizens, the corrupt builders of the Twin Towers would have made a clean getaway, with nobody the wiser.

Corruption is like a living organism in India’s innards, and a festering wound on the outward.

The demolition of the Supertech Twin Towers brought to an end a decade-old battle between the builder and residents of the towers ringing the Twin Towers.

The residents had gone to court protesting the rise of the Twin Towers from an expanse of green patch that they said belonged to the “community”. This was a case of citizen-activism. The top court just happened to be there to facilitate.

Left to the bureaucrats and the politicians, with the police thrown in for good measure, the Twin Towers would still have been standing tall.

This was, incidentally, the second time a so-called “tower of corruption” was brought down. An earlier instance was in Kochi, in Kerala.

The Kochi tower, demolished by the same artists who did the Noida Supertech in, went on to become a movie, which was released recently to lousy reviews. If anything, the press reports of the demolition were, by far, more exciting.

The real story is, there is no escaping corruption in India even with escapist films. And after Narendra Modi came to power, corruption only gets brushed under the carpet.

Narendra Modi rode the so-called ‘2G scam’ to become Prime Minister of India, which was, incidentally, the last one ever heard of it. Meanwhile, signed affidavits to the Election Commission show how much the wealth of BJP MPs who contested a second time in 2019 had risen. Every single BJP Member of Parliament evidently made manna from heaven in the first five years, as did the league of crony capitalists.

However, nobody can point a finger at these billionaires who are conveniently Modi-friendly.

No matter what spin is given to it, crony capitalism is clearly a form of corruption. Doesn’t facilitating relatives and friends to get rich overnight amount to corruption? Doesn’t crony capitalism amount to playing dirty?

The two-time Narendra Modi regime has turned crony capitalism into an art, the science of which is never spoken about. The Tatas made everything, from ‘pins’ to ‘powerhouse’, but the current crop of billionaires have invested in taking over media houses, making movies and buying cellphone radio spectrum.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal rode to power riding Anna Hazare’s ‘India Against Corruption’. Today, a decade later, Kejriwal’s AAP ministers are battling anti-incumbency less than they are fighting charges of corruption.

Whatever happened to ‘IAC’?

Both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party came to power on the basis of allegations of corruption, mostly contrived and fictitious as it turned out, levelled by them against the then UPA govt led by PM Manmohan Singh. Now, a few years down the road, leaders from both the parties evidently have no qualms to be engaged in a free for all loot to fill up their coffers.

(IPA Service)

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