By Dr. Gyan Pathak
There is nothing legally wrong when a government takes action against someone committing crime, but it does a great harm to the society when it takes action covertly on political consideration behind overtly lawful responsibilities. PM Modi led BJP-government’s getting Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister arrested through Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is clearly under this category, and hence is a serious social concern.
BJP-AAP political battle in the national capital territory has been turning uglier with passage of time is known to all. The times and occasions when cases have been registered and actions have been taken against AAP leaders happen to be so close to political events in the Union Territory, that one tends to think that they are directly linked to political considerations rather than pure acts of criminal administration behind which Modi government has been doing all these.
BJP governments from Gujarat to the Centre at New Delhi, have a record of not taking actions or even helping the convicts for rapes and murders setting them at large when they happen to be theirs, but initiating intimidating administrative actions against every possible critique of their wrongful acts or the leaders in opposition who they perceive as political threats. Why the number of actions increases around elections if they are not linked to politics? Why administrative actions are promptly taken against opposition leaders while giving more freedom to even tainted leaders of the ruling establishments? BJP leaders claim that their government have taken actions against even their party leaders, but how can people ignore the fact that most of them had to undergo such fate only after they became opposing factions?
AAP has called the arrest of Manish Sisodia a “black day for democracy”. A day after the arrest, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “I am told that most CBI officers were against Manish’s arrest. All of them have huge respect for him and there is no evidence against him. But the political pressure to arrest him was so high that they had to obey their political masters.”Meanwhile, the party has threatened protest demonstration against the arrests and several leaders of AAP have been arrested by Delhi Police to prevent any massive demonstration, while enormous number of police personnels have been deployed on Delhi roads and in front of BJP offices. MP Sanjay Singh, Gopal Rai MLA Rohit Kumar Mehraulia, MLA Dinesh Mohnia, MLA Kuldeep Singh and ex-MLA Sarita Singh were among the detainees.
BJP is now targeting Arvind Kejriwal terming him the ‘real kingpin’ of the excise scam in connection of which Manish Sisodia was arrested on February 26 and their several leaders have said that ‘he is the next’ to be taken action against. Even if it proves to be rumour, such a strategy has been adopted to intimidate not only AAP but the entire opposition.
Leaders of entire opposition are hounded by Modi government is an old allegation. Last year a report submitted to the Supreme Court of India had stated that large number of cases are pending in courts, and the cases are moving very slowly. There are lacks of evidences in many, while many are kept alive only to tame the opposition leaders.
In Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal had said last year during the election to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, that BJP accusing us of corruption – they have found nothing – not one paisa. They have attacked Manish Sisodia, tore his cushions and mattresses – found not a paisa. Over last seven years they have filed 167 cases against AAP leaders – not one has been proved in court. About 800 probe agency officers are dedicated only to find a paisa-worth of wrongdoing by AAP. They have found nothing.
Kejriwal’s utterance cannot be ignored since, the number of cases are too high, and their timings of registrations, delay in finding evidences against accused person, and pendency in courts due to lack of evidence all give rise to political intentions of taming opposition through arm-twisting by using government investigating agencies.
The arrest of Manish Sisodia, is therefore, a matter of social concern, irrespective of the merit or demerit of the case in which he has been arrested. BJP-AAP has been battling tough political battles against each other ever since Narendra Modi became prime minister of the Country. Right under the nose of the seat of power in New Delhi, AAP goes on offering humiliating defeat, in every state election. It hurts Modi’s image of invincibility in politics.
In Delhi Vidhan Sabha Election 2015, AAP had won 67 out of 70 seats leaving only 3 for the BJP. In 2020, their seats were respectively 62 and 8. Despite losing elections, Modi government tried its best to rule Delhi through its appointee Lieutenant Governor who interfered in all possible ways including officially encouraging officials not to obey elected governments directions. The matter was raised in the Supreme Court in 2018, in which it was ruled that LG did not have independent decision-making powers and the real power must lie with the elected government.
SC had also ruled that “a balanced federal structure mandates that the Union does not usurp all powers and the states enjoy freedom without any unsolicited interference from the centre… there is no room for absolutism and there is no room for anarchism also.”Against this SC ruling, Modi government brought a law on March 28, 2021 and changed the definition for the “government” in Delhi to mean “Lieutenant Governor” making a nominated or appointed person over the elected body violating the very principle of democracy.
AAP has served humiliating defeat to the BJP recently in MCD elections. The result declared in the fist week of December ended the 15 years BJP rule. However, BJP did not allow the AAP to have its own mayor in spite of their majority until the Supreme Court intervened. Mayor elections were stalled thrice by that time.
AAP has become a threat to the BJP in several states, and it is not a small thing that the party has made inroads even in Gujarat which is considered as Modi’s or BJP’s forte by winning five seats and 13 per cent of votes in the last Vidhan Sabha elections. AAP, which has now become a national party, is therefore being perceived as a threat to Modi and BJP.
As the Lok Sabha election 2024 is nearing, nine states of the country have scheduled assembly polls in 2023 that are considered as semi-final, Modi government has been betraying its desperation which is reflected in increased number of cases and actions against the political leaders of the opposition, who are allegedly being hounded, while the government claims nobody would be spared for their ‘crimes’. For unsuspecting people, Modi government may successfully hide their real intention, but others suspect something hideous. (IPA Service)
