Fight Against Corruption: One of the Crusaders Arrested Under Corruption Charges!

In the previous post here, I said that in spite of the near-certainty of a ‘walkover’ for the Modi Government the General Elections-2024 could still be no less than a cricket thriller! And, like many of the opposition leaders who have been relentlessly accusing the Government of India of ‘vindictive politics’ I too hereby stay ‘vindicated’! Ha! Ha! The momentous day of 21^st March, 2024 started with the central government freezing the accounts of the Congress party leaving it almost penniless for the looming election expenses and ended (not really!) with the arrest of the three-time Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from his official residence around 9 o’clock in the night on corruption charges relating to the Delhi Liquor Scam that started in 2021-22 leading to the arrests of several leaders of Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). CM Kejriwal has been skipping summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) since November last year. After he refused the 9^th summons, the ED, acting upon the alleged evidence provided by a supposed stakeholder in the Scam (bribes for favors) and the subsequent refusal of the Delhi High Court to provide legal protection against arrest to Kejriwal, descended on the CM residence and arrested him following house-search, questioning and seizure of some documents. High drama continued throughout the night as the police and the rapid action forces deployed in front of the CM residence in anticipation had to disperse the huge congregation of AAP supporters who blocked the road to the ED office by dragging away many male and female supporters to the waiting buses.

Incidentally, Arvind Kejriwal was one of the most prominent disciples of Anna Hazare who launched a mass agitation against corruption in 2011 in the streets of capital Delhi, and Kejriwal finally allegedly betrayed his guru-mentor to fulfil his pre-determined political ambitions. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the anti-corruption crusader Anna has come out with support for the arrest along with a lot of lament and sadness. The AAP contested Delhi Assembly Elections in 2013 becoming the second single largest party after BJP, and eventually formed the government in association with Congress (ironical indeed, because the fight-against-corruption movement was directed against the then ruling Congress coalition UPA-2 only), and Kejriwal realizing his cherished of becoming the Chief Minister. However, just after 49 days he ‘ran away’ from the government and joined the streets to where he thought he belonged. Delhi came under President’s Rule for around a year, and in the Assembly Elections of 2015 the AAP secured a landslide of 67 seats out of 70, and Kejriwal became CM for the second time. His party won another landslide in 2020, securing 62 out of 70 with AK becoming CM for the third time. Since 2014 when the BJP-led NDA government came into power and began its reign from capital Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal has been breathing down its back in the same capital. Therefore, it’s no surprise too that the NDA Government wants AK and his AAP out of the way, come what may, many BJP leaders having labelled his as the ‘Kingpin of the Scam’!

Even as the massive AAP protests that erupted last night began to envelope the whole country today and its top leaders began getting arrested or detained, almost all of the INDIA Bloc parties and their leaders came out voicing strong support, slamming the central government for the ‘murder of democracy’ and also some of them joining Kejriwal’s party in the streets. Two main points emerge during this dramatic unfolding which, I think, seem a bit tricky and even dangerous.

First, the AAP has been maintaining that Kejriwal refused the summons for nine times, because all in the party feared that the CM could get arrested which they claimed to be the sole objective of the NDA Government. In the previous post I raised the question as to why opposition leaders like AK try to escape from the ED instead of facing the challenge and proving them innocent! While insisting on this supposed strategy last night one AAP spokesperson got mocked at as the grinning news channel anchor asked her if she were happy to be proved finally! As the spokesperson struggled with her answer, I switched the channel as the ‘affiliation’ of the anchor was rather too clear for me! I switched on another channel where I thought at least one of the anchors was only ‘partially affiliated’! the point being that such a strategy could prove to be very tricky for the party.

Second and most significantly, AAP leaders have been maintaining since last night that Kejriwal would go on working as CM from jail as he is not being convicted yet. This is just not right, irrespective of any precedents or not. This could only land the party in deeper trouble legally and it could also trigger a public outcry. There is no dearth of examples of criminal politicians operating from jails to which we don’t normally react favorably.

There could be a possible third point to emerge out the two: that Arvind Kejriwal is being regarded as the ‘sole face’ of the party which lends much credence to the media charge that Kejriwal doesn’t trust any of his associates, either in the cabinet or in the party folds. And therefore, with Kejriwal in jail, there’d be no leader at all to fit into his chair. Then, what about the crucial campaigning in the coming weeks? Who will lead the party? Besides, in a hypothetical situation, when Kejriwal manages to becomes the Prime Minister of India who would fill the CM chair, provided the AAP keeps on winning the assembly elections too! More seriously, this ‘sole face’ situation might very well lead to a logical dissolution of the AAP Government resulting in another round of President’s Rule in Delhi.

As the last reports came in, the first sitting CM to be arrested ever in India has been produced in a Delhi court where arguments from both sides are going on. The ED has asked for a 10-day custody. Earlier, the AAP withdrew its petition from the Supreme Court, because as he was arrested under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) a bail would be most unlikely to be granted, and there are his colleagues including his deputy languishing still in the Delhi jails. Anyway, more twists and turns are only to be expected in the coming days, just like in a suspense thriller!

Tales, Telltales And Tailspin!

He is facing an existential crisis: should he stop watching news television forthwith or continue watching at his own peril! He is not able to decide the best course of action. Some of his friends, why his own wife too on many occasions, have been advising him to strictly not watch news channels. Because, they opine, it’s been very negative with everything, and, essentially, why should one go on being a mute witness to the reports of how many millions had been infected with the virus and how many thousands had succumbed to it. It affects you in the wrong way, makes you despondent and depressed, they add most emphatically. But, how can he just give up on news? He has to keep up with the local, national and the world scenario for his information, understanding and possibly analysis, particularly in this pandemic situation. And what are the alternatives? He does not still get his newspapers, and he quickly gets tired of reading e-papers. His mind goes into a spin.

Some friends even have put up social media posts, proudly informing others that they have stopped watching news channels. He gets disturbed. He reasons: all of the channels are not that loud and that bad, and for a change, they do show some extremely important content; he is intellectually smart enough to decipher the news from the views inherent in it; and like in a buffet party he can choose and pick the items he needs. Yes, he had already discarded the channels with the towering lunatics with their even more demonic companions. He has been sticking to this new normal, with a self-conscious pride of sorts, till those tales surfaced with their telltale signs, and left him flabbergasted, gasping for a breath of clarity or solace.

He is perplexed, veritably, genuinely. Why have the news channels suddenly switched on to the tales of two lovely ladies, at a time when the virus has been surging and spiking record highs of infections and deaths all across his miserable country? Perhaps, he reasons, they too wanted a change from the depressing scenario, and perhaps, wanted to earn a few bucks more, by arranging delicious on-sale dishes on the buffet. He is still perplexed as well as angry: all the lessons, tips and insights he has learnt from the channels have almost gone waste, because the same preaching channels have shown how desperate they are for the two lovely ladies, negating themselves in the observance of all norms of social distancing in their mad rush to take in those ladies, in full glory and in exhaustively breaking details. He, an honest person basically, is disgusted with the near media-riots that kept on being created day after day as the tales and telltales of the lovely ladies unfolded.

His depth of perplexity increases further, trying to make his personal stands clear as to the intricate stories of the two actors. He respects and adores them both: the first one as the caring girlfriend of the dead actor, a rising star, whom he loved too on the big screen; the second one he always loved to watch on the big screens, particularly for her portrayals in her off-beat movies. Now, in their real-life acts, he cannot decide, whom to support or oppose or hate.

The first case confounds him. He fails to understand why at all the dead actor’s family in his source state decided to complain against the girlfriend after nearly a month of his tragic but apparent suicide in the target state. However, what follows interests him more. The ruling dispensation of the source state has thrown itself overwhelmingly in support of the family, making it, arguably, the most powerful on earth, apart from perhaps the dynastic one. The news channels, discarded by him, also came in with servile cacophonous support, and the accuser-in-chief and the towering lunatic of a particular channel started his investigations, and convicted the poor girl before anybody, with his derisive followers clapping in hyena-like ecstasy. After a series of confrontation, cross accusations and court verdicts three main investigating agencies started their operations, displaying an unprecedented hurry. Her final arrest was hailed as vindication by all in support and condemned as vindictive by all opposed. Problem for him is that he respects the investigating agencies too, from his experience of all his years of existence in his miserable country, and he is unable to decide who is guilty, actually.

Before the news channels got a breather from the first case, the second lady burst into the scene, without much foreplay. She willfully accused the people and government of the target state, where she herself lives and earns, of unspeakable things, even comparing it to an eternal enemy-nation. The abominable things she uttered should have, ideally, hurt the feelings of both the ruling dispensation of the target state and the other stakeholders across his miserable country; however, while the ruling dispensation of the target state reacted vehemently, coming out, as expected by the main stakeholders, with its knee-jerk ‘punishment’ measures, the main stakeholders decided to provide maximum possible security for an actor. The sheer violation of norms that followed at the airport where both supporters and opposers and of course, the media-persons assembled in huge numbers for the arrival of the actor, made him boiling angry. The news channels, discarded by him, made the din worse by announcing the loudest of supports for the lovely lady, and crying for the blood of the authorities of the target state.

Two ladies: one continuously hounded and finally jailed, for her guilt yet to be proved conclusively; and the other lady who said disgustingly unparliamentary things was made a hero. Of course, he is not so naïve and gullible. As for the ‘hounding’ case he sees clearly that the ruling dispensation of the source state has indisputable electoral gains to make from its ‘son of soil’ dead actor and the main stakeholder has a revenge angle on the target state where it had suffered a great betrayal by its traditional partner. As for the ‘hailing’ case he can see that the main stakeholder stands to make a strong headway into exacting a revenge in the target state. In any case, the two lovely ladies continue to haunt him.

However, his basic existential crisis is yet to be solved: to continue or stop watching news television. Well, there is no hurry, at least in his own case. In the meantime, he can continue with his new normal adaptation, except for the occasional sneak-ins in the discarded channels just for curiosity, as he normally indulges in. But he is sure about one thing: the news channels, along with their governments, must put the focus back on the real raging crisis. And his final decision would rest squarely on this. 

Congress Vs BJP: One More Indian Political Thriller!

The Indian National Congress (simply called the Congress), the oldest political party of India, was the single largest party in the legislative assembly election of Rajasthan in 2018 with just one seat less than simple majority and formed government with the support of independents and smaller parties. Thus, it had succeeded in snatching power from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who secured a landslide victory in 2013. This victory was one of the three major ones achieved by the Congress in 2018 with assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also won—a tremendous performance for a party that was totally decimated by the BJP in the General Elections of 2014 and in the following assembly elections. However, the party’s persistence with its old guards alienated the young promising leaders, and as in Madhya Pradesh by Jyotiraditya Scindia in March this year dissidence grew in Rajasthan too with its dynamic leader Sachin Pilot breaking out in an open revolt on 12^th July 2020 after a series of reported attempts by the Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, to sideline him, claiming support of 19-21 Congress legislators, reducing the ruling coalition to near minority And, the northern state of India was plunged into a political crisis—closely representing several political dramas that were witnessed in the last five years, basically engineered by the BJP’s power grab tactics.

Interestingly, in this crisis in Rajasthan the young rebellious leader Sachin Pilot had not joined the BJP immediately like Scindia, and canceled two press briefings planned by him in the last two days. The Congress party, in bonhomie with old guard Gehlot, sacked Pilot from the posts of Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress Chief along with two ministers and the legislators supporting him. Yet, Pilot had not made any counter move and reportedly said that he was being maligned by spreading the rumor about his joining the BJP; Pilot further said that he was still a Congressman and still stood with the Gandhi family in the party’s high command. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Congress moved the assembly Speaker for the disqualification of all dissident legislators which, if approved, would bar all of them from voting in a probable no-confidence motion in near future, favoring the Chief Minister prove his majority. Interestingly too, the BJP had not played its cards actively—particularly in view of the Rajasthan Chief Minister’s allegations that BJP had been poaching the Congress MLAs in connivance with Pilot, the way it was done in Madhya Pradesh with Scindia.

Irrespective of how the Rajasthan drama would finally turn out to be it is being viewed as one of the absolute political thrillers enacted by the BJP in its indomitable bid to win over as many states of India as possible. In the historic General Elections of 2014, for the first time since 1984 BJP emerged as the only single party to have achieved absolute majority in Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, with its tally of 282 seats out of 545 which further swelled to 336 after accommodating its allies in the National Democratic Alliance government formed. The Congress party lost the elections with pathetic numbers largely due to the corruption scams in its rule of ten years prior to 2014, and many political commentators predicted its obliteration from Indian politics hence. As if justifying this prediction, the BJP went on winning almost all the state assembly elections till 2017 including landslides in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat thus earning an invincible tag. Although it could not get the majority in Bihar in 2015 it enacted a thriller in 2017 by forming government in alliance with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (Secular). Afterwards, in the state elections where it again could not get majority the party engineered alliances with regional parties to oust the Congress even as the latter was the single largest party on various occasions, like in the states of Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya. In other states like in Nagaland and Mizoram it included the regional parties in the NDA helping them win. In 2016 the BJP won landslide victory in Assam; in Tripura in 2018 when it snatched power in a state that was ruled by the left for decades. Thus, by 2018 it directly or indirectly established its authority in the whole of the North East India, a traditional bastion for the Congress apart from its absolute domination in northern, central and western India with the solitary exception of Punjab. In the south Karnataka was won back in 2019 from a Congress coalition government through another political drama after the BJP could not form government in 2018 assembly elections despite being the single largest party.

The venue for the very first, highly dramatic and prolonged political thriller was Arunachal Pradesh—another state of the North Eastern India. Congress won the assembly election in 2014 here and during the end of 2015 to end-2016 high drama ensued with unpredictable twists and turns till a BJP government was finally established. As usual, the trouble started with dissidence within Congress and with a proactive Governor things became explosive: assembly session being held in a hotel; Supreme Court intervention; President’s rule; suicide of a former Chief Minister; dismissal of the Governor and reigns of four Chief Ministers during the period with the fourth first sworn in as a Congress CM and later, on defecting to the BJP with all of his legislators to become a BJP CM. In 2019 assembly elections the BJP achieved a landslide victory in the state.

The NDA government, empowered by a huge majority, pursued an aggressive Hindu nationalist policy since 2014 which gave rise to extreme Hindu conservatism creating an atmosphere of intolerance and fear even over petty issues like food. As the mainstream and fringe Hindu organizations and forces got activated incidents of lynching started taking place at various parts of the country fueled basically by rumors on the social media. Although such incidents were not wholly targeted against any particular minority community, tensions became rife over issues like beef-eating and certain religious practices. The opposition and many in the intelligentsia termed the rule as ‘fascist’, and slowly the happenings started denting the absolute popularity the BJP enjoyed. This got reflected in state assembly elections in 2018 when a struggling Congress won convincingly in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan forming governments there. In political thrillers that ensued again Madhya Pradesh was won back in March 2020 through winning over a disillusioned Jyotiraditya Scindia, and then the drama shifted to Rajasthan; Chhattisgarh still safely with Congress. The BJP was also outsmarted in Maharashtra assembly elections in 2019 when ally Shiv Sena deserted the BJP and allied with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form government. Controversial decisions on Jammu and Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act also ignited opposition—both on the public and political fronts.

However, at the national level the BJP-led government is still in full authority winning the 2019 General Elections with even more seats than 2014. People and experts feel that there is no alternative to the BJP at the national level till now, and bold measures and policies, particularly foreign policies, pursued by the NDA are supported by the majority despite the economic downswing since the last two years. For the Congress, they must learn to respect and depend on the new generation leaders if they at all aspire to be a force in national politics. The BJP’s fascination for bold measures, authority, power expansion, drama, sensation and unpredictability is insatiable, particularly with crucial elections due in Bihar in 2020, and in West Bengal and Assam next year.