TeaThat recent images were stunning. Lots of cash, gold bars and a mountain of dollars in one room. and in Bengal. Unheard. In Maharashtra, money laundering charges against a party ideologue over a small ‘redevelopment’ trick, Shocking again. TV pictures of a pile of notes recovered from a close aide of former TMC minister Partha Chatterjee are surfacing. Shiv Sena’s outspoken MP Sanjay Raut, till recently editor of Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece face, who is known for his fluent and vivid editorials, has been accused of money laundering. The greed for cash seems to have caught some members of communities traditionally associated with a disdain for money, namely the Bengalis. Bhadralok and Maharashtrian educated middle class. When did the carriage of cash and gold – once ‘seen between’Dabangg‘ Leaders elsewhere – everywhere in Bengal?
Earlier this week at another juncture, Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari was forced to apologize For his comment about Rajasthanis and Gujaratis mainly responsible for making Mumbai the financial capital of India. The belief that only certain communities are known for their money making instincts and others are not, is an age-old pre-liberalisation belief. Today, a nationwide phenomenon, the millionaire cult seems to be dominant in most communities and certainly among members of all political parties. In fact, in the last 30 years, the politics of India has been reversed by the power of money. For example, TMC as ‘Syndicate’ and Shiv Senabranch head’ Further influence, a new bourgeoisie in Bengal and hard-playing outright groups in Maharashtra have emerged to prominence, and politics has become a tightrope competition for resources.
of Bengal Bhadralok A class known for prize education and gentleness has always viewed the pursuit of money with some uneasiness. Traders were never the heroes of Bengal. Instead, there are individuals like Bengali heroes Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose who instill high ideals of learning and sacrifice.
Similarly, the Maharashtrian middle class has always been proud of their literary and social reform ancestors (and their cricket stars) in the Phule-Shahu Maharaj-Ambedkar legacy, as exemplified among the residents of Dadar and Shivaji Park. When Maharashtrian middle-class icon Sachin Tendulkar acquired a Ferrari, it was a conspicuous break from the norms of austerity and resistance to glitter. But today, a big money politics has taken a terrible toll on the society.
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Both Partha Chatterjee and Sanjay Raut are former professionals, first ex-HR executive and second ex-journalist. The Shiv Sena was originally a movement demanding clerical jobs for Maharashtrians in a work environment dominated by English-educated South Indians. When it started, the Shiv Sena—led by Bal Thackeray, a professional cartoonist who lived in Kalanagar, an artists’ colony—did not seek wealth, but the aim was a good job and the respect of the middle class. Like in Bengal where the wealth-owning community was the Marwaris, the Maharashtrians in Bombay were not famous for their huge wealth. Rather it was Parsis (a category Governor Koshyari conveniently forgot to mention) and Gujaratis who were considered prosperous.
Of course, there is a positive side to the whole circle of commerce. In earlier Bengal, while Satyajit Ray may have stayed away from commercial cinema, today’s Bengali filmmakers such as Shoojit Sircar and designers such as Sabyasachi have achieved great success. Where once an international corporation was founded by Bengal’s extraordinary entrepreneur Amal Gopal Bose, today the state is abandoning its regressive opposition to industry. Mumbai cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar, who was brought up in simpler pre-1991 times, has now transitioned effortlessly into a more glamorous T20 era.
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Cash, Crime, Politician No Bar
However, on the downside, the pervasive and distorted effects of politics, and the ability to make excessive money by those with political power, especially in urban areas, have degraded society. In areas like real estate and private education, politicians across India are amassing huge amounts of money. Rent-seeking politicians are now found in communities, parties and states. Only people from opposition parties are chosen by the Enforcement Directorate for raids and arrests. But it can’t hide the reality: Politics is big business now. Electoral binding, which aims to clean up the dark underbelly of politics, has clearly not worked; instead, obscurity and secrecy have been legitimized, manifested in piles of cash held by politicians.
The scenes of Partha Chatterjee’s hard cash hoarding and the Raut controversy are further blows to the system. Obviously, no community, whether Bengali Bhadralok Or the Maharashtrian educated class, can now claim the moral or cultural high ground. Ironically, those who have lost out to these scandals are the same group whose regional aspirations the wealthy leaders and their peers claim to represent: low-income students and teachers in Bengal, trick Living in Mumbai. Who wants to be a millionaire This is not just a high aspirational game show, now it is being played in the ‘Great Indian Democracy’, class or community or party or state, no bar.
Sagarika Ghosh is a journalist, columnist and author. His recently published works are Indira, India’s most powerful prime minister (Juggler) and why am i a liberal (Penguin Random House). Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Neera Mazumdar)