The Indian middle class is largely immune to political corruption that pervades every level of our polity. But once every decade or so, corruption assumes a critical mass, much like Bofors in late 1980s, that makes it come out of its self-imposed political insularity. With all manner of scams hitting the headlines with regularity through the year, are we on one such ?Bofors? moment once again?

It would seem so, as a majority of urban Indians from socio-economic classes A and B believe that the Commonwealth Games and the 2G spectrum scams are as big as Bofors, with the potential to influence their vote at the next hustings. Corruption tops the list of ills plaguing the country, says an overwhelming proportion of SEC A and B, which accounts for a large part of the Indian middle class. Essentially, people with class 12 and above education and/or working in managerial postions or running their independent businesses make up the bulk of SEC A & B population.

A majority of 1,000-odd people contacted for the five-city ?FE-Synovate Corruption Survey? said that 2010 has been a year of scams, with Commonwealth Games and the 2G scam topping the list. The imbroglio around the Indian Premier League involving its disgraced former commissioner Lalit Modi and former junior minister for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, allegations of nepotism against Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, Mumbai?s Adarsh Society scam and illegal mining by Karnataka?s Reddy brothers are stark in public memory.

An overwhelming majority blames politicians for the state of things. Many respondents also attribute blame to bureaucrats and some hold businessmen responsible as well. The sentiment of anger, frustration and helplessness about a highly corrupt system is fairly secular across cities, gender, age and socio-economic classes.

Surprisingly, despite the sheer size of the spectrum scam which has consistently dominated headlines and stalled the Parliament amid controversies arising from leaked tapes, for the survey respondents, the Commonwealth Games has been Scam No.1. Over 80% recall it as the year?s biggest scam, followed by 2G (54%), IPL (49%), BSY (15%), Adarsh Housing (11%) and mining irregularities by Karnataka?s Reddy brothers (7%).

The IPL controversy which claimed Shashi Tharoor?s ministry job too spells bad news for Congress ? which was thrashed at the Bihar elections last month ? as it prepares for a couple of state elections in the next two years. However, the opposition BJP is in no higher moral ground either, with its image sullied with corruption charges surrounding its chief minister BS Yeddyurappa in Karnataka and Reddy brothers figuring high on the scams that rocked the country this year.

Not surprisingly, local corruption cases tend to get more play in respective cities. For instance, for Bangaloreans, the BSY land controversy is bigger news (48% recall) than 2G (35%). Similarly, for cricket-crazy Mumbaikars, IPL is head-to-head with CWG on top of the corruption charts.