Netas’ personal woes

Oct 17, 2011

Politicians are having a tough time these days. While Indian netas are getting indicted for corruption, in other countries it’s personal issues that are felling top leaders. A top British Cabinet minister, secretary of state for defence Liam Fox, has had to quit because of a “close friend” who also showed too much interest in official matters, even claiming to be the minister’s “special adviser” on his business cards.

Given that Mr Fox dealt with very sensitive issues and handled multi-billion pound contracts, this proximity naturally became suspect.
This echoes a similar affair in Britain nearly 50 years ago when John Profumo, then secretary of state for war, was found carrying on with model-showgirl Christine Keeler, who also had a boyfriend in the Soviet embassy. Politicians do attract all kinds of unsavoury people who want to exploit their friendship with the powerful, but in the Fox case the relationship goes back a decade and a half, so clearly the attraction was mutual.
We in India are a bit more forgiving. Hardly anyone’s personal life makes it to the media. Gossip may circulate in political circles, but it’s never used in political campaigns. Does that make us more sensitive, or is it because of this silence that everyone can carry on with no fear of exposure? Politicians need to know that there is a fine line between the personal and the political: when that gets blurred, it’s no longer a private issue. Fox forgot that simple rule and had to pay the price for his lapse in judgment.

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