Central Agencies’ Intensified Raids On Opposition Leaders Give Ominous Signal

By Sushil Kutty

Take the police away for 15 minutes and… Similarly, take the CBI, ED and the Income Tax Department out of the Centre’s equation and people will see through the hollowness of the Modi regime’s allegations of corruption against INDI-Alliance leaders in no time at all. It is long alleged that the Modi-led BJP government uses central investigating agencies to enforce the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “nefarious designs” and the main purpose is to keep opposition leaders embroiled in “corruption cases”, essentially when elections are approaching or when government formation in a state is at hand. Toppling duly-elected governments also gets easier with central probe agencies tied to the effort. Forcing defections is yet another objective.

Like now, when the 2024 general elections are just weeks away and the Modi government isn’t sure of the outcome though the BJP is making a big thing out of “sweep” and “landslide” and “400-plus”. If people haven’t noticed, which all the people might not have in the crescendo of sounds accompanying the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, the Centre has intensified raids on prominent opposition leaders even as the BJP is ramping up preparations for the fast-approaching 2024 general elections.

It is quite clear the Modi government, prompted by the BJP’s interests, is bent on depriving the Opposition of a level-playing field with the blatant misuse of powerful central probe agencies. The sudden spate of “actions” against electorally popular mass leaders is not only ominous but also symptomatic of the Modi government’s anti-democratic electoral agenda, i.e., win the general elections by hook or crook. The central investigative agencies are powerful tools in the hands of unscrupulous entities and the Modi government/BJP fits that bill.

Conceded that some of the opposition leaders targeted by the Enforcement Directorate have a record of past graft, but the timing of their current harassment is certainly shifty. The upcoming Lok Sabha elections are without doubt the sole reason for the witch-hunt. Burdened by double anti-incumbency, the BJP lacks the confidence to fight the Opposition “politically” and, therefore, the use of CBI, ED and the IT-Department to bend the future your way.

Certainly, after the coming together of disparate opposition parties for the first time in decades and the formation of the INDIA Block, the CBI, ED and the Income Tax Department, cannot keep their paws off key opposition leaders. The INDI-Alliance is not just a wake-up call for the Bharatiya Janata Party but the worst nightmare in 10 years of Modi regime. Decimating the INDI-Alliance is a national emergency for the Modi government. Electorally, according to some “independent” analysts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is at his weakest and it tells in the actions of the central investigating agencies.

Opposition leaders from Bihar and Jharkhand are the latest targets of ED highhandedness. Lalu Prasad Yadav is well past his corruption-age, so to speak, but his mass appeal among huge swathes of Bihar’s crores is a known fact and people vote for the RJD on a single nod from Lalu Yadav. But the 75-year-old was “interrogated” for nine hours by the ED following which the same treatment was ladled to Lalu’s son, the just-evicted Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tejashvi Yadav, whose mass appeal matches that of Lalu.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren is getting hounded by the ED and by “hounded”, the meaning is “literally hounded”. On January 30, Soren was incommunicado for the entire day and half the night as the ED laid siege for him. For the Opposition, the Enforcement Directorate is not only a menace but most definitely, a smelly pest.

INDI-Alliance leaders from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab are all ED, CBI targets with the Lok Sabha polls getting closer and closer for the ruling dispensation’s comfort. The RJD’s Manoj Jha alleged that the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and the Income-Tax Department have been tasked to act against top INDI-Alliance leaders and keep at it right up to the elections. Jha said Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were latest targets.

The father-son Yadav duo are getting special ED attention for the alleged land-for-jobs scam and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the Delhi liquor scam. Hemant Soren is perhaps the most vulnerable. It’s the BJP’s fear of the INDI-Alliance which is behind the surge in ED “action” against opposition leaders. The Yadav duo is a threat to Modi’s 40 Bihar Lok Sabha seats target set for the BJP. And Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joining the NDA doesn’t make a dent on the threat.

The BJP isn’t buying the opposition argument though, which leaves the ball squarely in the people’s court. The BJP says the “corrupt” are “naturally scared” of the ED and the CBI. The reality is no ED case against any opposition politician has been brought to a logical conclusion so far. Not even the ones against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyender Jain. All three are languishing behind bars and the ED is still looking for closure, which makes it very unsure. The only thing sure is that the ED/CBI/Income Tax Department witch-hunt will stop the day the 2024 general elections results are declared and it would not matter who is the victor, the BJP or the INDI-Alliance. (IPA Service)