Sleuths In A Rush

The Fast-Paced Probes By Investigative Agencies In Cases Against Opposition Leaders Signal That The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections Are Round The Corner

- Namrata Biji Ahuja

Mamata Banerjee’s love for paintings, Mayawati’s fetish for memorials, Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s alleged land dealings, Akhilesh Yadav’s alleged sand stealing, the accusations against the Congress in the AgustaWestland chopper deal and those of money laundering against Robert Vadra. These may not be the defining issues for the aam aadmi, who will vote for development, jobs and stability in the Lok Sabha elections. But, for the political class, the investigative agencies’ fast-paced actions in these cases signal the start of a vicious political battle in the last leg of Narendra Modi’s five-year rule.

Public perception matters. Especially ahead of the country’s biggest elections. History has seen governments fall because of a single corruption scandal. The Bofors scandal brought the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress down to 197 Lok Sabha seats in 1989 from 414 in 1984.

Thirty years later, the cases are aplenty. But this time against the opposition. On February 3, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pulled up a chair and sat on dharna on the streets of Kolkata to protest the Centre’s alleged misuse of investigating agencies to browbeat political opponents and control possible alliance partners. Most opposition parties joined her, in letter or spirit.

Then, on February 6, the knives were out when Priyanka Gandhi reached the Enforcement Directorate headquarters with her businessman husband Robert Vadra. He was there to be questioned about a money laundering case involving properties he bought in the UK. Priyanka dropped him off, and then took formal charge as the general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, sending a strong message to the BJP government.