The much-hyped controversy over Rafale fighter jet deal finally met its nemesis. But before it met its fate, the controversy has caused much damaged to the image office of the Prime Minister and of public affairs in this country.
The Supreme Court has dismissed all petitions seeking a probe into the multi-billion dollar Rafale Fighter Jet deal for which the Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been raising corruption charges.
It is just an endorsement of the decision-making process followed by the government and it is a major shot in the arm for the Modi government. The categorical manner with which the demand for a court-monitored probe has been turned down is doubtlessly a huge embarrassment for the Congress party in particular which had notched up impressive victories in the recent elections in three BJP-ruled states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh — with Rafale as their main campaign plank. Considering that Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in particular, had repeatedly called the prime minister a thief during the campaign, there is reason enough for the BJP to demand an apology from him personally and from the Congress. It goes without saying that Rahul's grave charge against the country's prime minister displayed how irresponsible and condemnable utterances had vitiated the atmosphere and lowered the level of discourse at the highest levels in the country.
There is such crass sycophancy and subservience in the ‘grand' old party that every act of indiscretion and regrettable behaviour is passed over and even applauded by Congress partymen. Rahul is virtually unlettered in politics and such blatantly irresponsible talk would only get worse unless he is reined in, which in current conditions seems unthinkable. They will now intensify their campaign for a probe by a joint parliamentary committee in the Rafale deal in support of which they could not produce even a shred of evidence. For people who talk of Modi's assault on institutions to cock a snook at the highest court in the country is the highest form of assault on an institution. Loose talk on the pretext of democracy cannot go to a point where the judiciary is mocked at and its sanctity trampled underfoot. That other Modi-baiters like West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee are joining the Congress chorus is doubly unfortunate.
With the court having delivered a clear verdict absolving the Modi government of blame, the Opposition that swears by protecting vital institutions must gracefully accept the verdict and not go on the path of agitating for the appointment of a joint parliamentary committee to probe Rafale to waste the time of this country. The credibility of the Congress and other like-minded parties is at stake. They must wait for another issue to put the Modi government on the mat and move on.
