Chapter 33: Part 1
"Who do you think the friend is?" Arnav asked pouring a glass of carbonated water to a wine glass. Khushi was surrounded by stacks of books and papers. She had forgone her contact lenses and worn her spectacles just like Arnav did. Her apartment resembled a hurricane hit library and Khushi didn't seem to care.
"Either of our fathers, one of my bosses, someone who is puppeteer in these shows…it's someone who is going to benefit out of this situation – not in terms of power but with money, real estate, government deals etc.," Khushi said looking up from the paper she was reading.
"That would be lobbyists, middle men for retail sector, defense contractors, military lobbyists…need I go on?" Arnav said.
"I was thinking more in terms of-"
"I know. But the people I just named would be the pawn brokers for thousands of crores of deals and any asymptotic change in the political diaspora of this country could shake the whole thing up. The reason why more scandals break during the latter part of a five year terms is because of this; government takes several months to establish itself and the departments it wants to govern with a force of hand."
"So basically we have to wait for the corruption to start and go through smoothly before someone from opposition gets a whiff of it and leaks it to the press."
"That's pretty much correct." Arnav sat on the floor five feet away from Khushi after handing her water.
"What's the repercussion if we start exposing these scandals right after the MLAs are elected?" Khushi asked.
"It will not deter them because the ultimate goal has already been achieved unless of course the scandals bring about impeachment, perjury or liable for legal action."
"Do scandalous photos count?" Khushi asked making a note on post-it. Arnav looked up from the laptop and looked at her.
"Are you joking?" He asked surprised at her question.
"I am not. These politicians have a large staff Arnav. We need to keep each one of them occupied and fight wars from all fronts on all sorts of scandals. The person has to be publicly humiliated to take up an office."
"Khushi, you think media can help us? I mean we know how they roll and how they are closely associated with the political parties. But if we were to break scandals on a political party, and we know how large some of the parties are, then do you think they will be able to do that?"
"Not at first. But when print media breaks the news, they can't help but follow. If they don't follow it will show their political xenophobia. So they will do a neutral report which is what I want anyway," Khushi explained.
"Give me one example where this has worked," Arnav challenged.
Khushi smiled. "The most recent one being Radia tapes. OPEN magazine first broke the story and every network followed it whether they liked it or not."
"Okay, fair enough, what else?" Arnav accepted.
"We also utilize local media – tabloids, state newspapers and regional news channels which can be coerced into sending out the message. There would be social media picking this up and wider audience would be pulled in."
"You have thought about this," Arnav intoned. Ruffling of papers stopped as she peered at him curiously.
"You have a network of people in every state and in every prominent city of this country Arnav. I don't think it will be that difficult to execute this plan now, is it?" She replied. Arnav laughed.
As soon as he finished his first ever meeting Meera Nanda, he had started organizing and preparing people in each state who had the ears of state politicians. Few of these men also acted as liaison for corporate lobbyists. Since state politicians rolled up to nationals, he had decided to put them in the state rather than coaching them to work at the center. It had taken four years to create and mobilize such an intricate network but he had worked hard, spent a good deal of money and somehow gotten it done.
"It's not about difficulty but the walls we are going to hit when we start giving out tidbits. Frankly I want this to go on field starting tomorrow – three and half weeks to election and everyone will think their enemy is doing it. Some may not buy it but the elections will make them slower."
"It's going to be a mess everywhere. And election turnout will drop even more than last one," Khushi said. "What's worrying is the tension which is going to prevail during election times. In some places it could turn into violence if these scandals hint the leaders themselves are involved."
"It is risk I am aware of and there is nothing we can do about it. We just have to wait and see it play it out. What is Payal doing now?" Arnav asked.
"Payal is listening to tapes – recording of phone calls between Meera Nanda and Sampat." Khushi said returning to her papers. "We should see the extent of damage done on whatever we have planned."
"Meera knows about the network and we discussed its strict confidentiality. You think she would blab when asked by Sampat?" Arnav wanted to know.
"I don't think she will but I am not taking any chances. Khushi said calmly but Arnav could see the mild paranoia in her eyes.
"From how long is Payal on it?" Arnav inquired remembering about the brilliant girl.
"It's her fourth day now. She has some sort of computer program to isolate Sampat's recordings and few of her subordinates are preparing transcripts. Till now she hasn't discovered anything."
"Isn't it possible that these exchanges might have happened face to face or over emails or some other sort of communication protocol?" Arnav asked.
"It's completely possible Arnav and I am not ruling it out. However Meera doesn't meet with people in public – be it however confidential. That's her rule. Sampat is old school and doesn't believe in having any sort of written communication. He likes to do all his businesses over the phone and it's also the most convenient thing to do. I am not saying meetings and emails are out of question but the precursors to such would be present in phone records." Khushi explained.
"So there will still be some grey area when we are neck deep into all this. If Meera has given this information to Sampat then he can easily point politicians in our direction. The actual targets would be the people who are working for the said politicians."
"As you mentioned before Arnav, this is a necessary risk. I have worked on contingency plans for these people and one for us if all of this blows over. I will have to revisit them but I would need help. You have any manpower you can spare?"
"What do you need?" Arnav asked.
"I need at least half a dozen lawyers who know when not to talk, a lot of cash and foot men who can mobilize relocation to a foreign country plan in three hours." Khushi asked. Arnav looked thoughtful. "You do have money, don't you?" She asked when Arnav didn't respond.
Arnav nodded. "Would you be surprised if I tell you that the money I have can probably serve as annual budget for a small third world country?"
"That's…"
"…a lot of money, I know and this is why the money was made in the first place. Get Payal to set up offshore accounts for our people so that they don't have to worry about daily living expenses for few years. Also there is a possibility that Meera might get investigated by CBI."
"Arnav, lobbying isn't against the law."
"Lobbying isn't against the law Khushi but getting foreign investment into defense sector by blatantly obfuscating the quality of delivery can be. Department of defense can simply name it as crime against state if they really wish to make her life a living hell."
"Why do you think she will be investigated by CBI?" Khushi was perplexed.
"There is a buzz and it was something my mother offhandedly mentioned during breakfast today. I got my contact at CBI to check it out for me." Arnav said and took a sip of carbonated water. "My mother was talking about what my father has been working on these days and she randomly mentioned that he is working with a new lobbyist to get something out of energy sector. And when I questioned whatever happened to Meera, my mother said that my father hasn't been her client for almost three years now."
"And that tipped you off?" Khushi asked.
"My father is the barometer of politics Khushi. His determination to paint a clean picture of his obsessive need to overachieve makes him extra cautious when he deals outside corporates. I trust his judgment in this context," Arnav explained.
The sound of doorbell interrupted their conversation.
"That must be Shukla," Arnav said standing up.
Note: It's a two part update. I wanted to post the second part as a part of this but I am not too happy about it right now. I am reworking on the draft so it will be out when its in a decent shape. Fell on rush bush and have thorns all over my right hand. So update might not happen today/tomorrow.
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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