Speaking of the supposed crores (billions) of illegal money allegedly held in Swiss bank accounts by Indian politicians, Desai explained, "It won't have a major impact on the economy, but it would be good if it stopped. It's an issue of morality. It doesn't matter whether the money is stashed in Swiss banks or here in India, because the disease itself is right here."

Asked how the problem could be rectified, Desai shrugged and replied. "People in India are tolerant of the gross misbehaviour of elected officials. Clean politics is guaranteed by clean civil society, not politicians themselves. "

Still, Desai sees hope on the horizon. "What pleases me is that early signs indicate that MMS (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) and Rahul (Gandhi) together are people who are willing to take risks to establish clean politics, while Sonia Gandhi is by nature risk-averse and cautious. Manmohan Singh is an honest, incorruptible politician. And Rahul too has been patient and straightforward. Plus, politics is the art of choosing between compromises you are presented with. And those two work very well together."

 "But we don't really have inner-party democracy in India," he added. "There is some in the Bharaitya Janata Party and some in the Left, but there is no inner-party democracy in the Congress. When Indira Gandhi destroyed democracy within the Congress, it destroyed a model and an example for Indian politics. But I think Rahul and Manmohan hope for it and will strive for it."