Another blow to Chautala govt

CHANDIGARH: Close on the heels of the ruling Indian National Lok Dal''s debacle in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Haryana, CBI searches on Wednesday at the residences of some of the close aides of chief minister Om Prakash Chautala in connection with the probe into the alleged bungling in the 1999-2000 selection of nearly 4000 JBT teachers in the state has further tarnished its image.
At the same time, the question being raised in political and administrative circles here is whether the CBI has carried out these searches in a bid to cover up its slow progress in the probe, which was started in December last on the direction of the Supreme Court, or these searches are just the outcome of the change of government at the Centre. The apex court had directed the CBI to complete the probe in six months, i.e. by this month-end.
In view of the fact that the new ruling alliance at the Centre is still busy with the nitty-gritty of government formation, the second possibility can possibly be ruled out. In fact, what seems to be more convincing is that the CBI, through these searches, is trying to strengthen its own case to seek more time from the apex court to complete the probe. Widespread searches carried out on Wednesday is a clear indication that it will not be possible for the CBI to complete the probe in time as only a couple of days are left now for it to meet the deadline set by the court.
On the political front, these searches are certainly a jolt to the ruling party which is still reeling under the impact of setbacks suffered by it in the recent parliamentary elections in the state. What is more discomforting for it is that it will have to again face the electorate in the coming Assembly elections scheduled for March next year.
On the one hand, the ruling party claims that the selection of candidates for vacant government posts have been made on the basis of merit, on the other, the state has been rocked by such job scams as the JBT teachers'' selection in which the actual list of selected candidates was allegedly tampered with by the political bosses to accommodate candidates of their choice.
There is no denying that the INLD will find it hard to convince the people of the fairness in the recruitments made during its tenure for other government departments.