Lok Sabha elections are just two weeks away in India. The country's politics has heated up around the arrest of some opposition leaders on corruption charges ahead of the elections. A war of words is on the rise between the ruling BJP government and the opposition parties.
In this regard, the opposition parties are mocking Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) terming it as a 'washing machine' and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'washing powder'. Not only the opposition parties, but the 'washing machine' jibe goes on in the social media as well. But why?
The opposition alleges that the BJP is deliberately leveling corruption charges against anti-government leaders and critics. And then they were harassed in various ways in the name of investigation by the law and order forces. But when the accused leaders joined the BJP, corruption investigation against them instantly stopped.
This accusation of the opposition against the BJP is not new. However, with the recent arrest of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ahead of the National Elections/Lok Sabha Elections, the opposition's 'washing machine' and 'washing powder' attack has reached a new level.
Earlier this year (January 31), the Chief Minister of India's eastern state of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate, or ED, after a lengthy interrogation in an alleged corruption case. Earlier he was forced to resign from the post of Chief Minister. Soren has been in prison.
Almost two months after the arrest of Hemant Soren, the ED arrested Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 on similar charges of corruption. Kejriwal is the first Chief Minister in India's history to be arrested while serving as Chief Minister.
After arrest Kejriwal was taken in remand for 11 days for interrogation. After remand, he was sent to jail custody. AAP has repeatedly appealed for his release but the court has not heeded it. There is no sign of his release before the elections.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) termed Kejriwal's arrest as a conspiracy ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. After his arrest, party leader and Delhi Education Minister Atishi Marlena Singh told reporters that the investigation into the case began two years ago. In this case, thousands of raids were conducted at the residences of Aam Aadmi Party leaders and ministers. But neither the ED nor the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could recover even a single rupee. Arresting him (Kejriwal) now is a conspiracy of BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Opposition leaders' 'washing machine' jibe
The opposition parties are alleging that the non-BJP parties are harassing them and trying to create instability in the states where the government is in power before the Lok Sabha elections.
Recently, National Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar criticized the BJP government for targeting chief ministers of non-BJP-ruled states, including Jharkhand's Hemant Soren and Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal. He said, BJP has become a 'washing machine'. Politicians facing allegations of corruption may join the party to 'cleanse' themselves. NDTV.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel recently joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NCP). The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) closed the corruption case against him about eight months after he joined the BJP. Hindustan Times.
Congress leader Pawan Khera single handedly took BJP over this. In a press conference last Saturday (March 30), he said, BJP withdrew the case against the accused leaders in the multi-crore scam. Khera also alleged that central investigative agencies like CBI, ED, Income Tax Department are being misused to intimidate opposition leaders.
This Congress politician said, BJP has such a washing machine, in which even if a 10-year-old case is given, the accused comes out unscathed. Along with the machine is this wonderful Modi washing powder. Here vegetables, tea, corruption, rail scam, sports scam, coal, chit fund all scams can get out. The price of this machine is 8552 crores. It came from electoral bonds.
The first phase of Lok Sabha polls will begin on April 19. Before that, industrialist and politician Naveen Jindal recently left the Congress and joined the BJP. Soon after, BJP nominated Jindal from Kurukshetra constituency in Haryana in its new list.
Naveen Jindal has been accused of coal corruption and money laundering which was being investigated by ED-CBI. Now that he has joined the BJP and is a Lok Sabha candidate, the opposition parties are skeptical about whether the investigation into the corruption case will continue. Hindustan Times.
Reacting to Naveen Jindal's defection, Congress leader and party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that Naveen Jindal needed a big washing machine. In his words, ''When you need a big washing machine, this had to happen.''
Palanivel Thiagarajan, a minister in the MK Stalin government in Tamil Nadu, said the BJP is now a washing machine. They are cleaning up the corrupt by adding them to the team. He also said that after joining the BJP, all the cases against those accused of corruption were destroyed by the BJP government like a washing machine.
Not only the opposition leaders, the 'washing machine' debate and criticism against the BJP is also going on in the social media. In a recent function involving opposition leaders, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, BJP welcomes everyone. Even if a political leader has an image crisis. In his words, "the party (BJP) is very generous. We welcome everyone.'' The Mint.
Netizens reacted angrily after Sitharaman posted this comment on social media. One said, 'BJP's washing machine has now become a normal thing. Shameless time.' Another said, BJP's washing machines are now legal and officially recognized. Is it any wonder? He (Finance Minister Sitharaman) is saying what the BJP is already doing."
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Minister Atishi held a press conference on Tuesday (April 2) and alleged that she was lured to join the BJP. It has been said, otherwise he will be arrested on charges of corruption. It has been said that he has two options. Save political life by joining BJP or go to jail.
The BJP continues to strongly deny this allegation of the opposition. According to BJP leaders, investigative agencies are independent. They are working according to law. The government is not influencing.
The Indian Express' explosive 'washing machine' report
India's English daily The Indian Express published an explosive report. According to the investigative report, no matter how serious allegations of corruption are against someone, after joining the BJP, everything is covered up. The report of The Express has revealed how 'political' the operation of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), CBI and Income Tax Department is against the corrupt.
According to reports, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, 25 top leaders from other parties have joined the BJP, facing "serious" allegations of corruption. Investigation was going on against them. There was also a case. But some cases were withdrawn after joining BJP. Most investigations do not make any progress.
The list of top leaders published in the report includes 10 leaders of Congress, 4 each of NCP and Shiv Sena, 3 leaders of Trinamool Congress, 2 leaders of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and 1 leader of Samajwadi Party (SP) and YSR Congress. Of these, 23 have either been closed or no progress has been made. However, the investigation against the two is still going on.
Out of 25 leaders, 6 joined BJP this year itself before the elections. According to the report, after coming to power in 2014, 95 percent of those investigated by ED and CBI were from the opposition party. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Sharma is also in this list. In 2014, the CBI searched Sarada's house for her alleged involvement in the chit fund scam. He joined the BJP in 2015 and is currently free.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the trend of using ED-CBI for political gain has increased manifold during the BJP era. Taking the example of 2009, the report said, that time the CBI was lax in its investigation against Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati. Because the ruling UPA government was trying to attract them.
According to the report, this hyperactivity increased drastically during the BJP tenure in 2022-23. Most of the attention was then on Maharashtra. At that time, the BJP first split into the Shiv Sena, then into the NCP. Then the government was formed in the state. All cases brought against two top NCP leaders Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel have been 'closed'. But Prime Minister Modi himself fired a cannon against the 'corruption' of the two.
Ajit Pawar was accused of corruption worth Rs 70,000 crore, Praful Patel was accused of Rs 30,000 crore. According to this report, 12 of the top 25 leaders are from Maharashtra. The Indian Express has detailed the names of these 25 top leaders, their parties, corruption allegations and the current status of the investigation.
Among the Maharashtra politicians who have joined the BJP is Ajit Pawar, the deputy chief minister of the coalition government in the state. He joined NDA in 2023. There is Praful Patel. He was the Civil Transport Minister during the UPA period. The BJP had accused him of corruption worth Rs 30,000 crore. Like Ajith, he left NCP and joined NDA. Hasan Mushrif, who is known as the panda of the sugar scam, is gone. He also joined NDA along with Ajith. And then the investigation is closed.
Pratap Sarnaik, Jamini and Jaswant Yadav and Bhavna Gawli have gone from Shiv Sena to BJP. Former Chief Minister Ashok Chauhan, former Mumbai Congress president Kripa Shankar Singh, Chhagan Bhujbal, Baba Siddiqui and Archana Patil have recently left the Congress and joined the BJP in Maharashtra.
Archana is the daughter-in-law of veteran Congress leader Shivraj Patil, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha. She and her husband had an income tax case going on. After joining the BJP just a few days ago, the tribunal said that no allegations against them have been proved.
Former Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat of Congress joined BJP in 2022. Since then, the investigation against him has been hushed up. Haryana industrialist Naveen Jindal was a major Congress leader. A charge sheet has been filed against him in the coal scam case. A few days ago he left the Congress and joined the BJP to become a candidate for the Lok Sabha polls. None of them are being investigated now.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Sharma is also in this list. In 2014, the CBI searched Sarada's house for her alleged involvement in the chit fund scam. He was also interrogated several times. He joined the BJP in 2015 and is currently free. The case is not going on.
The names of Trinamool Congress defectors Subvendu Adhikari, Sobhan Chatterjee and Tapas Roy from West Bengal are in this list. The CBI sought permission from the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in 2019 to conduct an investigation against Subhendu. Even today it did not match. He is now the biggest leader of the state BJP.
Sobhan has left politics. Tapas recently joined BJP. The ED on the engagement of the Kolkata Municipality searched his house a few days ago. After that he left Trinamool and joined BJP and became a candidate for Lok Sabha elections. Before publishing this report, the newspaper sought official statements from the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department. No one responded, the report claimed.
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