#SwarajForLalit: Three reasons CBI is hounding Congress leaders
At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on the defensive with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje facing protests by the Congress for their association with former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi and senior leader LK Advani making his now controversial "Emergency" remark, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is on a spree to initiate action against senior Congress leaders, which reeks of vendetta politics by the Centre.
On June 18, the CBI initiated an enquiry against Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh and his family members for allegedly amassing wealth worth Rs 6.1 crore. Just the previous day, CBI registered an FIR against former Union textile minister Shankarsinh Vaghela and six others including the then chairman-cum-managing director of National Textile Corporation for sale of prime property in Mumbai allegedly at "throwaway prices" to a private company, causing a loss of Rs 1,700 crore to the exchequer.
The enquiry against Singh will reportedly probe from a disproportionate assets perspective the alleged unexplained income of Rs 6.1 crore during the period 2009-11 when he was the minister of steel in the UPA government. The preliminary enquiry (PE) is against Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, son Vikramaditya Singh, daughter Aparajita Singh and an LIC agent Anand Chauhan.
In Vaghela's case, soon after registering the FIR, CBI launched search operations at nine locations in four cities - New Delhi, Gandhinagar, Mumbai and Kolkata - including the residence of Vaghela, a senior Congress leader and presently the leader of opposition in the Gujarat assembly, and others. Vaghela is also a former chief minister of the state.
The timing of the registering of cases against the two senior Congress leaders is suspect. These could be three reasons why the CBI has been unleashed on them:
1. BJP's diversionary tactics: The actions against Singh and Vaghela have been taken to deflect attention from the Swaraj-Raje-Lalit Modi controversy. The Congress has launched a nationwide protest demanding resignation of both Swaraj and Raje. They have also insinuated the involvement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded a reply from him. The PM has so far not spoken on the issue.
2. Tit-for-tat: By targeting Singh and Vaghela, the Centre is trying to put the Congress on the defensive. The main opposition party will now focus its energy on saving its own face and, in the process, the BJP can heave a sigh of relief. The BJP will demand the resignation of the Himachal Pradesh chief minister if the Congress persists with its demand for removal of Swaraj and Raje from their respective posts.
3. Parliament's monsoon session: The Congress is all set to raise the Swaraj-Raje-Lalit Modi issue in the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament. It is also likely to disrupt the proceedings of the two houses of Parliament. But with their own leaders in the dock, the attack by the Congress will get blunted. The BJP will have reason to counter their charges by raising the issues of Vaghela and Singh. The Congress will also not hope to get much support from other opposition parties when their own leaders are in soup.