The revelations contained in the electoral bond data that SBI has been forced into putting into public domain clearly establishes that;
Almost all donations were given because of quid-pro-quo or benefits being given to the donor by the party that got the donations. These could be party at the center, that is BJP or a party running a state, like DMK got from Future Gaming for allowing it to operate unhindered in their state.
Over a period of time it will get established that all those who gave donations derived benefits from the government in control of the decision making process.
It will also become clearly established that organizations gave donations when they were facing action from the regulatory bodies and investigation agencies when they were caught doing something wrong. This could be tax evasion, failure of quality control (as in the case of drug manufacturers who gave almost 1000 Crores collectively), GST evasion, gaming of the system, like the Stock Brokers who gave money while being prosecuted by SEBI, individuals and companies being investigated by ED, etc. They all gave donations when they were caught.
But does this corruption affect you and will it become a political issue capable of upsetting the upcoming elections?
Corruption in high places does not affect the common person directly. Corruption in getting a driving license, ration card, Aadhar Card, Ayushman Card, Free Ration, etc. affect people directly. Those who violate rules and regulations and end up paying money to traffic cops lament corruption.
Corruption in high places is an event happening very far away, but it does affect all of us. Corruption increases the cost of projects and those who may be without merit win the contracts. Take the example of Twin Tunnel being built in Bombay, Megha Engineering got the contract beating L&T for a bid amount of 14400 Crores. It is now established that the company bought 140 Crore of bonds immediately after winning this contract. It is obvious that this money came from padding up the cost of the project. This is approximately 10% of the contract. We know that the going rate for bribes is around 40%, therefore Megha Engineering would have paid at least another 420 Crores as cash to the government awarding them the contract. That means the twin tunnel project has padding of around 560 Crores. The twin tunnel could have been built at 14400 Crores minus 560 Crores, that is 13,840 Crores! Thus corruption in this one single project cost the citizens 560 Crores but this did not affect them directly as their bank balances remained untouched.
Similarly, whenever ED/CBI/Income Tax/SEBI, etc. took action against erring companies, the money went to ruling party instead of coming to the government. Therefore governments income could have been better had the money come to it instead of going to the party. Increased income would have meant relief in taxes to the citizens. Here too corruption did not directly affect the citizens.
One must remember that in 2013-14, Corruption was the BIG issue. The Lokpal agitation brought down Congress government as massive figures were splashed across newspaper headlines.
Thus, yes, corruption can bring down a government provided it is turned into an issue that people understand and relate to. For that you need media to spread the message.
Unfortunately, media is now under the control of those people who have benefited from this rampant corruption, therefore it does not speak on the subject anymore.
What remains is alternate media, social media and small warriors like us who are trying to use a sling shot to bring down the Goliath.
It will now all depend on such small warriors whether they will be able to make Goliath fall.
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