“Democracy is by the people, for the people, and of the people.”
-Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the USA (1861-65)
We claim to be the largest democracy. Are we? Two latest developments raise this question.
The first is the support one individual, Gautam Adani, and his company could get to increase his wealth disproportionately, get all kinds of support from the government, banks, and institutional investors, violate any law, and get away.
The second is the manipulation of election results, hate speeches by the Prime Minister and Home Minister, and the performance of the Election Commission of India.
Adani has been in the news for a few years. As the farm laws were favoring the corporates at large and, more so, Adani and Ambani, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha gave a call for boycotting Adani and Ambani. The farm laws were withdrawn, but in different ways, Adani is allowed to control the market for farm produce. This has been visible in Himachal with the price of apples and the price of wheat in Punjab.
Then came the Hindenburg report, which clearly gave minute details of manipulation of stock markets using companies registered in tax havens like Mauritius, the link with close relatives having control of the companies against the laws of the nation and rules of the Stock Exchange Board of India. Adani’s stocks crashed, but public banks like the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank gave fresh loans at huge risk as the companies’ loans were already very high.
The stocks recovered through all kinds of manipulation. Financial institutions like LIC and banks bought huge stocks of the Adani group to save him, presumably at the insistence of the government.
Then came the second Hindenburg disclosure about Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch, the Chairperson of SEBI, her connections with companies, violation of rules, agitation by employees of SEBI, demand for her resignation, etc.
Till now, no action has been taken. There is no accountability fixed on those who were involved in the selection of the SEBI Chairperson, including the Finance Minister.
Now the New York District Court has indicted Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, along with six others on bribery charges based on investigations. Lots of details are available in the media, but the government is not bothered. They don’t reply to the people.
The issues are:
- Switzerland fined the Adani Group in 2021 itself.
- Now Kenya has canceled contracts with Adani.
- Bangladesh is discussing cancellation of a contract given to Adani.
- The Sri Lankan minister openly stated that the contract was given to Adani at the intervention of the Indian government.
- Agitations are going on in Australia against Adani Coal.
The image of the country is at stake because everyone knows that Adani has grown due to his friendship with Mr. Narendra Modi.
Mr. Jawahar Sircar raised the question in Parliament: “Why so much support to Adani for bringing you by flight, Mr. Prime Minister?” For raising questions on Adani, Ms. Mahua Moitra was removed from Parliament.
The contracts and concessions given to Adani are phenomenal. The Union government has forced state electricity commissions/boards to purchase at least 10% of solar power at higher prices from the Adani Group. They have also forced them to buy 10% of the coal from Adani, who imports coal of poor quality. This has led to increased electricity expenses for every Indian and a crisis for state electricity distribution companies. Who will be held accountable?
The Election Commission of India has lost all credibility. How do the number of voters increase one day before casting ballots? How can the number of votes increase overnight after polling is over, and the number of votes counted exceeds the number of votes polled? Why is the percentage of polled votes announced instead of the number of votes polled? The government is directly interfering in the ECI.
Is the Prime Minister not accountable?
In any other country, the Prime Minister would have resigned or fled.
See what happened to Richard Nixon because of the Watergate scandal?
The Prime Minister of England resigned recently.
Sheikh Hasina had to flee from Bangladesh.
Mahinda Rajapaksa had to resign and flee from Sri Lanka.
Without accountability, the country will become an autocracy and monarchy. Can we wait to see the death of democracy?
Thomas Franco is the former General Secretary of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation and a Steering Committee Member at the Global Labour University.
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