Nira Radia Tapes and fall of a giant from the pedestal

The most important fall-out of the leak of Radia Tapes is the fall of an important figure from the public pedestal. Ratan Tata. He has been no.1 in the list of the few industrialists and businessmen that the Indian public trusted. But the Radia Tapes have damaged that reputation. The fault is not with the people who leaked the tapes. The fault is not with the magazines which published them. The fault is with Ratan Tata. If you keenly listen to the tapes and digest the contents, it becomes clear that Tata dreaded the probable return of Dayanidhi Maran as Telecom Minister. He wanted some one, any one other than Maran. But Raja was good enough for him. Pliable, accommodating, approachable, practical. Seen in the context of Tata's telecom interests, the desire to see Raja as Telecom minister is not all that saintly. In fact, the efforts mounted to bring Raja as Telecom minister is very evident from the tapes. This effort made by Tata , besides of course others, has dented Tata's image, may be irretrievably and for ever. This is sad news for a man who will be retiring in a year or two.