From a media perspective, the Satyam Fraud has been remarkable for two things. One, the failure of the business media in catching a whiff of what was cooking in the accounting kitchens of the disgraced Hyderabad company not just one year, but for seven years.
If that failure is understandable because none of the overseeing institutions did so either, it is remarkable how easily an even larger media circus has allowed “India’s Biggest Corporate Fraud” to slip into “India’s Biggest Coverup” in one month flat.
After the initial flurry when B. Ramalinga Raju fessed up to the fraud on January 7, there has been a stunning reluctance to ask the big, hard-hitting, politically incorrect questions. Instead, the media have happily allowed themselves to be diverted and distracted.
As if protecting the reputation of a city or its leading IT brand is the duty of the media, not serving the interests of readers.
R. Jagannathan, the managing editor of DNA, has been one of the few business journalists who has managed to retain his eye on the ball and tell it like it should be. In an edit page column, he writes of the curious convergence of political, regional and business interests that is conspiring to derail the probe.
He writes of the Bihar connection that has found little or no mention:
“The prime minister does not want Satyam to sink as it might dent India’s global IT image. The UPA’s political leadership cannot let a corruption scandal damage Andhra chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR) in an election year. With him goes the Congress party’s hope of returning to power as head of the next coalition.
“Turfed out of Bihar by the NDA, the political interests of the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) mesh well with those of the Congress. It partly explains the Andhra-Bihar nexus in the Satyam probe.
“The man at the centre of it all, company affairs minister Prem Chand Gupta, is from the RJD. The Andhra Pradesh DGP is a Yadav from Bihar, S.S.P. Yadav. The policeman handling the Andhra CID probe is inspector-general of police V.S.K. Kaumudi. When he was with the CBI some years back, Kaumudi probed Lalu’s fodder scam. He obviously knows a thing or two about Lalu’s secrets. Lalu and the Andhra CM, thus, have an interest in helping each other out….
“It is obvious who is really being protected: the Andhra chief minister. The Satyam scandal was essentially about the misuse of corporate funds for private purposes, including the purchase of benami land and wangling lucrative contracts from the Andhra government. It is impossible for land deals to be done in the state without the chief minister’s nod.”
Read the full article: The Bihar Connection
Also read: How come media didn’t spot Satyam fraud
churumuri 
Those who think Lalu Prasad is a rusty, villager with antics- are bigger fool. Lalu knows how to milk the system, placed his pieces in right places.
The whole scam will not be unearthed NDA comes power 2009.
Only Nitish, Jaitley can pin him and unearth the whole scam.
LikeLike
Not relavent, but a good one.–
Last Wednesday an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue , where he’d been sitting on a park bench.
He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”
The Marine looked at the man and said, “Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.”
The old man said, “Okay,” and walked away.
On Thursday, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”
The Marine again told the man, “Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here.”
The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.
On Friday, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U.S. Marine, saying “I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.”
The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, “Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I’ve told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don’t you understand?”
The old man looked at the Marine and said, “Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.”
The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, “Yes Sir. See you tomorrow, Sir.”
LikeLike
The big bouncy Indian ITful ball is a nanga raja – no pink chaddies even. This scandal has exposed the glorification (not only by the Indian media but globally by the likes of Davos, TED, Thomas Friedman etc…) of the little village boy that excelled (?) in Excel. There is no Indian I(dio)T image to tarnish. What you have with Satyam, Infosys etc. are body shopping agencies. These companies are the back office boys of India. There is no real IT here. When you think IT think IBM, Apple, Linus not these two bit traffickers of souls. Next time you talk to the media’s “mango man” – the majority of Indians – ask them if there is any IT in their lives.
LikeLike
Also, Jagannathan of DNA should be congratulated- he showed rare clarity, courage as a journalist which is missing in India.
LikeLike
Not a single proof against YSR, yet the author makes random allegations.
LikeLike
The Congress CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy is so confident that in the next general elections by using Satyam money minimum of Rs 3,000 crore will win.
On the other hand, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu who milked Satyam to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore is equally confident with Na(rayana of CPI) Ra(ghavulu of CPM) Chandra(sekhara Rao of TRS) Babu wants to kill the Congress party forever.
LikeLike
Simple sir, Try this. Recently, the trial court in Hyderabad allowed luxurious stay for Donga Raju as State Guest – privacy of room, cot, bed, fresh linen, TV, home food, chicken, mutton etc. This permission was based on the district collector’s recommendation that Raju was used to such life style. Surely, the district collector did not place his recommendation on his own? Samuel Rajashekara Reddy prevailed upon his DC to so recommend.
LikeLike
“Om shri Ameresh Mishraya namah”
Sangh parivar is behind this corporate fraud. The communal name “Satyam” proves it… just like saffron wrist bands of Mumbai attackers proved that RSS was behind Mumbai attack. Secular forces have found that Israelis used to frequent Satyam campus in Hyd. So it is clearly a Sangh-Mossad job.
LikeLike
Simple>>Not a single proof against YSR, yet the author makes random allegations.
There are proofs given by author in this piece. Its better than what have been told about Modi by media for last 7 years.
LikeLike
Tathagata Mukherjee:
See, again pure assholism – bringing Modi into a Satyam discussion. Just proves that you are incapable of seeing anything without bringing your agenda into it.
LikeLike
Vinay>>See, again pure assholism
hehe..your language shows who is loosing. My post was crystal clear.
LikeLike
Tathagata Mukherjee:
hehe – your inflated gas-filled brain makes you get erect on perceived “wins online”. Your posts, as always, are clear as mud.
LikeLike