People in power and others too - who have been in power once - should always keep in mind that trying to 'trick' the fear by numbing it with ice does not work.
In 2013-14, BJP's prime ministerial candidate had pledged to eradicate corruption and teach lessons to those higher-ups who have indulged in the wrong doing. The man who made the promise is Narendra Modi - India's Prime Minister for last 11 years.
The case in debate is the National Herald Case. It had started with a private complaint by Subramanian Swamy. His best known image of being unpredictable. What could happen if Dr Swamy, former Law Minister under Chandrashekhar, now withdraws that complaint ?
There has been a suggestion from certain quarters that such a thing may happen. Analysts say thus to preempt any such move, a fresh FIR has been filed by the Economic Offence Wing of the Delhi police. Now the ED investigations and the case per se has been strengthened.
The ED has used powers available to it under section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to get the police FIR registered. This section allows the central agency to share evidence for registration of a criminal predicate offence by a law enforcement agency so that it can subsequently book a money laundering case to take forward the investigation.
This has frustrated the Congress camp during last few days more. The 'dog' entry in Parliament premises and Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury stating that there are those inside who 'bite' must be seen as a tip of iceberg. This analogy was strengthened when standing within Parliament premises (but outside Lok Sabha), the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi joined the issue and even asked is a dog not allowed within the parliament premises.
The law of the land and the need to maintain certain decency never bothered Rahul Gandhi. He has a sense of entitlement. He has the track record of showing disrespect to the then PM Dr Manmohan Singh in front of camera. Congress leaders also readily oblige him.
But on the other hand, the law is taking its own course.
The Delhi police has pressed charges under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC in the FIR that names the Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and also other Congress leaders Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda,.
Even entities such as - the Young Indian (YI) and Dotex Merchandise Ltd, Dotex promoter Sunil Bhandari, Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) and unknown others would also face the long hands of law.
Some of the offences entitle non-bailable warrant. Hence there is now stronger apprehension that the ugliest episode in Congress party's first first family may be somewhere around.
So far the Modi government has been extra cautious. It was gauging public mood whether sending the mother-son duo behind bars in Tihar jail (or otherwise) will give some sympathy to the Congress leaders and the party. But there is a powerful section in the government and the BJP now that believes -- there is no much risk of any public upheaval if the issue is corruption and the move to put people behind bars actually come from a court of law.
The Bihar mandate recently and the previous victories in Delhi, Maharashtra and Haryana only prove that while Congress support base is dwindling; the increase of Lok Sabha seats by the principal opposition party in 2024 was some kind of a fluke. Moreover, the credibility of Modi is at stake.
Why is the macho Prime Minister scared of holding the bulls by the horns?
We must also keep in mind that history does not simply repeat itself. It makes you dance. And hence the law often takes its own course faster than some people often realise.
The National Herald is not the only case of corruption afflicting the mother-son duo or their party. Long back there was Bofors - that case tarnished Rajiv Gandhi's image permanently. During the UPA regime; there were multiple scams and some of them looked serious.
"... in an age where scams grow slicker and corruption hides behind encryption, the pressure on institutions like the CAG has never been greater," says a former senior auditor P Sesh Kumar in his new book 'Unfolded -- How the Audit Trail heralded Financial Accountability .....'.
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| Modi's immense popularity is a strength to purse cases against Sonia-Rahul Gandhi duo |
PM Modi knows he had promised to take legal and concrete actions against top guns in cases related to corruption. His government has kept other promises such as Ram temple and abrogation of Article 370. But in corruption related cases - he has unable to score anything big in cases such as Coalgate, 2g, Commonwealth and a few other cases.
The National Herald case is almost an open and shut case and hence if he misses out to act and score points simply because he fears what will be the fallout of such strong actions; his legacy may have certain grievances. The Prime Minister has to prove that for once - he has able to take actions against very powerful people.
The question - therefore for the Prime Minister - is whether accountability can survive in a world where data races at the speed of a code. This is also an era where T-shirt clad 50 plus Congress leader is at times going above board and calling Election Commission of India some kind of a party in 'Vote theft'. Taking
Taking a pause amid busy schedule, Modi also realises that it is a 'reminder' of duty.
The ED had earlier alleged in its chargesheet that a "criminal conspiracy" was orchestrated by several prominent political figures, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi apart from late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes and also Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and a private company Young Indian for alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme related to the fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the AJL.
The case also is that Sonia Gandhi "abused" her position as the former AICC president for personal gains to herself and her son Rahul Gandhi by converting public money (party funds ) for self use through the Young Indian (YI) company.
Sending some top political stalwarts behind bars is not only about naming and shaming. It is also about looking at the mirror and try to gauze where the socio-polital spectrum has gone wrong.
It is about narrating the consequences of system failure - if we may like to say so.
ends
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