The investigative agencies in India are in an overdrive these days. Recently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) tightened its noose on senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram. It registered a case and conducted raids on 14 locations, including the Chennai home of Chidambaram and his son Karti, for suspected “criminal misconduct” in foreign investment approvals to a company linked to jailed media baron Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani.
The CBI alleged that Karti’s firm helped Mukerjea’s media company circumvent limits on foreign investment when his father was the Finance Minister. The agency also claims that
the company had got permission for only Rs 4 crore, but got Rs 305 crore instead. In exchange of these deals, Rs 90 lakh was allegedly sent to Karti’s account. This is being considered as bribe and the action is being taken accordingly.
Sources in the probe agency say Chidambaram is on its radar and it won’t be long before other cases against him are pursued. He and his family might soon feel the heat in Aircel-Maxis and Rajasthan ambulance scams too.
On Tuesday, the Income Tax (I-T) department trained its guns on lalu Prasad Yadav, as raids were conducted on his family and close associate PC Gupta. lalu has allegedly amassed benami property worth Rs 1,000 crore, and the I-T department conducted raids to unearth them. Following the raids, the Opposition was quick to term it as “political vendetta” by the Centre, but the Government responded by calling Tuesday the day of accountability for the “corrupt”.
Just a day prior to the raids on Chidambaram and lalu, ie on Monday, the CBI had interrogated former Haryana Chief Minister BS Hooda for seven hours at its headquarters. This was the second time in the past 10 days when Hooda was interrogated for so long. Sources in the CBI say that problems of Hooda might increase vis-à-vis land allocation in Panchkula and the Manesar land scam. Recently, the I-T department had also conducted raids on Mayawati’s brother Anand Kumar.
The top leadership of the Congress, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, might also face problems. The court has cleared its stand on the National Herald case. After that, the counsels of the Congress have taken their appeals back and now they have to be present before the I-T officials. Hooda is also on target in the same case. In the Priyanka and Robert Vadra case also, many agencies have been roped in. Not only this, CM of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh, is also under lens. Right from Sachin Pilot to Ashok Gehlot and from Ashok Chavan to Harish Rawat, some or the other leader is in trouble.
Though a BJP leader says that action against any Congress leader will be limited. For example, stern action will not be taken against Virbhadra as he might end up getting sympathy votes in elections. Sonia, Rahul, and Hooda will also face limited action. But it is certain that they will be stuck in the net of agencies for a long time.
lAlU’S PIlING PROBlEMS
Problems of RJD chief lalu are not going away. The Supreme Court has given permission to prosecute him separately in four cases, which are almost of the same nature. He had got relief in the same case from the High Court, which stopped the separate prosecution in four cases. This had prompted Sushil Kumar Modi to raise questions on the HC judge. Now, it is believed that all these cases will be heard in the same manner in which one of the cases was heard in the court of Prabhash Kumar and lalu had got four years’ jail term.
If all the cases proceed in the same manner, then lalu might be convicted and sent to jail. Apart from this, there are many revelations about the properties of his two sons — Tejashwi and Tej Pratap — and daughter Misa Bharti. Their ties with the Jain brothers, who were arrested in the hawala racket, have been established and questions are being raised over black money and benami property.
The mounting woes of lalu don’t seem to be bothering Nitish Kumar though. That is why, it is being said, that they would not leave the Mahagathbandhan and will not surrender before the BJP and lJP leaders. This is an ideal situation for Nitish because lalu is on the back foot and the Congress is already bowing down before him. So, he has emerged stronger than ever before.
On the other hand, for Nitish, there is great risk in going with the BJP. At present, the party has enormous strength and the situation of alliance partners in Bihar is also not hidden. So, Nitish will not be ready to become the number 2 party by going with the BJP. It is being said that he plans to wait it out till 2019.
FUTURE STRATEGY OF AAP
What will be the future strategy of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)IJ Will Arvind Kejriwal leave the Delhi CM’s postIJ There is enormous pressure on him from within the party. Though he has to make the decision, sources close to him say that many AAP leaders are building pressure on him. First, Kumar Vishwas said Kejriwal must follow the principle of one post-one person and must leave either the CM’s post or that of the AAP’s convenor. Now other leaders of the party have also started singing the same tune.
Then came Kapil Mishra’s allegations. Most of the party leaders say that the allegations are directly aimed at Kejriwal and his family. The people who have been named by Mishra are linked to Kejriwal in one way or another. His late brother-in-law was allegedly a part of the controversy and a media house had exposed that Kejriwal’s family members did indeed benefit. That is why it is being said that this conspiracy has been hatched by insiders; it was a well-planned attack against Kejriwal and his kin so that they can be sidelined. Along with the Congress and BJP, AAP leaders are also saying that Kejriwal must leave the post as long as investigations are under way.
The big question is who will replace KejriwalIJ Some are speculating that he might take a leaf out of lalu’s book and hand over the reins to his wife Sunita. She had taken a VRS from the Government job some time ago. If Kejriwal resigns — adhering to the policy of one post-one person — then Sunita can be made the CM. However, if he leaves his post for fair investigation, he can’t hand the post over to his wife. So, it is difficult to guess who will benefit if Kejriwal leaves the CM’s chair.
CONG’S MISSION GUJARAT
Assembly Elections in Gujarat will be held at the end of this year, but before that it seems that the Congress’s strategy has gone for a toss. Infighting continues to weaken the party. Former CM and leader of the party in the Assembly, Shankersinh Vaghela, is revolting. People are saying that he might return to his parent party, the BJP.
He is at loggerheads with Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki, and the party is divided into two parts.
On the other hand, the JDU, NCP, and Hardik Patel’s Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) have started their positioning. The three parties have made an alliance and are putting pressure on the Congress to jump on the bandwagon. At the same time, the Congress feels that the NCP and JDU don’t have any base in the State. Of course, there is some effect of Hardik’s Patidar movement.
But these three parties are quite keen on joining hands with the Congress. Due to this, the Congress feels that they will demand more seats and if that doesn’t happen, they would go alone. If this front goes alone, then the Congress will be at great loss as the anti-BJP votes will get a platform. But if the Congress goes into the alliance, then it will have to leave 50 to 80 seats out of 152. If the Congress had taken the initiative for the alliance, 10-15 seats would have been enough for the other three partners. But now, the time has gone.
Till date, the Congress has been fighting alone in Gujarat and has a well-established organisation all across the State. However, the JDU, NCP, and Hardik have started saying that the BJP — despite being very strong — has gone into an alliance with smaller parties, so the Congress should also follow suit.