LONDON — Despite all the claims of India as a rising power, the country is suffering a serious crisis. The credibility of the government in New Delhi is being tested by a plethora of corruption scandals in recent months. From the Commonwealth Games to telecommunications there are scandals galore and the government is finding it difficult to govern amid demands by the opposition that it hand over the inquiry to a joint parliamentary committee.
Rejecting opposition claims that he had been trying to avoid questioning over the telecommunications scandal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has now offered to appear before the parliamentary committee investigating the case. He has said that as proof of his bona fides he would appear before the government committee examining the scandal if it chooses to ask him to do so.
A bizarre spectacle is unfolding before the nation. The government that has ruled for the past six years now wants the country to believe that it has nothing to do with the charade that has become of governance. And the nation is now being informed that the ruling coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), will soon start seriously tackling corruption.