WHEN announcing his retirement from a brief spell in politics, film star Amitabh Bachchan described the Indian political system a 'cesspool'.
An inkling of the situation he was describing can be gauged from the number of leading names that are being entangled in the 'Jain hawala case'.
In the past fortnight, virtually every top political leader - including the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, present Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Congressman Arjun Singh, and leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Lal Krishan Advani - have been accused of accepting payoffs totalling 650 million rupees (about HK$142 million) from New Delhi-based brothers S.K. and J.K. Jain, in return for political favours.
Three ministers in the Rao cabinet - Madhavrao Scindia, Balram Jakhar and Vidya Charan Shukla - were charged by police and have resigned from parliament.
Environment minister Rajesh Pilot, who admitted receiving payoffs from the Jains on behalf of the Congress party, also has resigned.
Another accused, Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, has vowed to 'quit politics for ever if the hawala kingpin S.K. Jain says on oath that he has ever met me, leave aside giving me the money'.
The uncertainty caused by the revelations has thrown the country's political and economic systems into turmoil.