With bankruptcy of ideas for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections and politicians from Rahul Gandhi to Sam Pitroda hitting new lows of political discourse in India, Caravan magazine with its latest story has joined in the ranks with its shoddy hit job. Simple scrutiny of the documents which substantiates Caravan’s report instantly exposes the true nature and intent of this blatant attempt to create issues out of thin air. In the report titled ‘The Yeddy Diaries’ Caravan has claimed to have accessed evidence of kickbacks to top BJP brass by BS Yeddyurappa for political benefits however technical and factual incoherencies in their reporting based on fallacious evidence is something which sophisticated English couldn’t hide. Our analysis of the diary entries or ‘the evidence’ in the report clearly debunks Caravan’s shoddy claims.
- The diary with the alleged kickback amounts is undersigned by Yeddyurappa himself, essentially incriminating Yeddyurappa in the whole process. To put it differently, BS Yeddyurappa was naive enough to leave his trail on ‘hard evidence’ which could not only be a major political discomfort but equivalent to political suicide. Thinking of a seasoned politician overlooking such simple technicality is hard to swallow.
- Augusta Westland scam has taught us the clever use of codenames for illegal kickbacks. However, the ‘evidence’ in this case just clearly goes ahead and names top BJP leaders with their kickback amounts right in front of their names. This again is incoherent with nature of this alleged practice.
- Round figures like 150 crores and 50 crores are bound to raise further suspicion on the credibility of ‘diary entries’ cited in Caravan report, as has been noted in previous cases where kickback amounts were not round figures. These round figures seem to be nothing more than to be right out of a child’s imagination.
- While the diary entries or the ‘evidence’ as claimed by Caravan clearly names many top BJP leaders, it does not mention any name of the judge to whom kickbacks were given, This essentially keeps the heat on the political leaders by escaping the wrath of the judiciary. Is there a hidden agenda into play? Judiciary in the past has also discarded similar frivolous ‘diary entries’ in major judgments.
- Many observers have also pointed out the clear cut mismatch between the original signature of BS Yeddyurappa and the one which can be seen in the diary entries, furthering the reservations of many on the credibility of the diary entries.
- Basic comparison even by non-Kannada readers will simply point out the vast mismatch in the original handwriting and handwriting in the ‘diary entries’.
- The most compelling evidence in this regard is surely the track record of such similar reports where similar attempts have been made in the past to manipulate and create issues out of thin air by different entities, case of Justice Loya is a striking example in this regard, However numerous attempts to stir up a controversy in the death of Justice Loya fell flat on the face.
With the elections closing in, shoddy reporting is emerging as the biggest challenge to free and fair elections. Equally important is the responsibility of politicians to pick up issues based on credible evidence not from shoddy attempts at generating controversy.
