Vijay Mallya - A test case for Prime Minister

Mr. Narendra Modi won the last Parliamentary election in India by thumping majority and emerged as the Prime Minister of the country. This was made possible largely because the people were impressed about Mr. Narendra Modi’s promise that he would totally eradicate the corruption in India and bring back the ill gotten black money stacked abroad , within one hundred days of coming to power.

Mr.Modi is now on the verge of completing the first two years as Prime Minister of India but his much publicized promise to eradicate corruption has not yet happened. The black money stacked abroad has not been brought back. This single reason has resulted in the erosion of image of Mr. Modi as a strong and efficient administrator, capable of fulfilling his much believed promise with regard to the elimination of corruption.

While discerning observers think that Mr. Modi is earnest about his resolve to root out corruption and has taken some steps in this regard by way of streamlining the administration, the common man in the country does not appear to be impressed as they are yet to see any changes for the better in the ground reality, as far as corruption conditions are concerned.People wonder as to whether Mr. Modi would be able to fulfill his promise at all in the foreseeable future.

In the backdrop of such perception in the country, “the escape” of Mr. Vijay Mallya from the country , the liquor baron who owes millions of rupees to several government owned Indian banks , has shocked the people. The question that is being asked is as to why was Mr. Vijay Mallya allowed to leave the country in the first place. The allegation of the opposition parties that Modi government has deliberately kept it’s eyes closed when Mr. Vijay Mallya flew away from India is now believed by several people.

While the government of India says that it is taking steps to bring back Mr. Vijay Mallya to face trial in the court, the fact is that Mr. Mallya has not responded to several summons issued to him by the enforcement directorate . First he said that he would return back Rs. 40,000 million and used this as excuse to get extension from the court for the date of appearance. Now, he has sought further extension of date.
In the past, there have been quite number of cases when the offenders have been allowed to fly away from India and Indian government’s efforts to bring them back have not been successful. Many people think that similar development would take place in the case of Mr. Vijay Mallya also and he would never come back to face the trial.

Obviously, inability to prosecute Mr. Vijay Mallya so far and the failure of Modi government to bring him back to face trial is hurting the image of Mr. Modi personally. People are bound to hold Mr.Modi responsible for inability to bring back Mr. Mallya and it would be taken as adverse reflection on Mr. Modi’s resolve to punish the corrupt persons and wilful defaulters and tax evaders.

Vijay Mallya episode is now hanging like a democle’s sword for Mr. Modi and inspite of his initiatives in several other fronts, this one single factor would make him weaker in the eyes of the public.

Obviously, Mr. Modi would be aware of the seriousness of the situation. However, the question remains as to how Mr. Modi will deal with Mr.Mallya with all the force at his command and whether he would be successful in calling his bluff.

N.S.Venkataraman
Nandini Voice For The Deprived
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