Ironic how Modi's biggest critics from BJP are under fire now

In a sheer coincidence, all those who had opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at some point of time in the past find themselves in the dock at present. Be she human resource development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje or Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Smriti Irani

On June 24, a Delhi court admitted a petition challenging Irani's academic credentials, calling the plea "maintainable" and fixing August 28 as the date for the hearing. She is facing heat for mentioning three different educational qualifications in three separate affidavits to the election commission. In one affidavit, she claimed to have completed her bachelors from Delhi University (DU), in the other she said she completed B Com Part I from School of Correspondence, while in the third one she claimed she did her B Com Part I from School of Open Learning (DU).

Irani had taken on Modi in December, 2004 blaming him and the 2002 Gujarat riots for the defeat of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. She had threatened to fast unto death demanding Modi's resignation. She had lost the Lok Sabha election that year from Delhi's Muslim-dominated Chandni Chowk constituency. However, she patched up with Modi, who was the Gujarat chief minister, and even retracted her statement later.

Irani went on to become Rajya Sabha member from that state in August, 2011. She also contested against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Though Irani lost, she got a heavyweight portfolio at the Centre.

Modi had favoured anointment of the HRD minister as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate for the Delhi assembly elections which were held in February, 2015. Friends in BJP's parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), told this writer that finance minister Arun Jaitley and BJP president Amit Shah were not in favour of Irani to be the face of the party. They prevailed upon Modi to declare former IPS officer Kiran Bedi as the party's CM nominee.

Sushma Swaraj

Swaraj belongs to the LK Advani camp which was opposed to Modi's elevation as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate before the last Lok Sabha elections. Being the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, she herself was a strong contender as BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s prime ministerial candidate. Like Advani, she too had sulked on Modi's elevation. But while Advani made his displeasure known, Swaraj acquiesced in the party's decision.

After the BJP won the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP could not ignore Swaraj's claim for a ministry which was not a part of the cabinet committee on security (CCS). Instead of allotting home, finance or defence, she was given external affairs ministry so that she would be involved in affairs outside the country. Remember, when Salman Khurshid found himself in the thick of controversy as the law minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, he was shifted to external affairs ministry for the same reason.

Swaraj quietly but diligently performed her duties as the external affairs minister, preparing groundwork for Modi's trips abroad. Almost all surveys rated her as the most efficient minister in Modi's cabinet when the NDA completed one year in power on May 26. The expose regarding her association with Indian Premier League's (IPL) former commissioner Lalit Modi could not have come at a worse time in her political career.

Hurt by the revelations, BJP MP from Darbhanga Kirti Azad went on record alleging that the attack on Swaraj was an insider job. His "aasteen ka saanp" (snake in the grass) statement has perhaps become the most-quoted words by the rivals to hit out at the BJP.

Vasundhara Raje

Raje and Chouhan, along with Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, had also opposed Modi's projection as the BJP's PM candidate in 2013 on the ground that elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were to be held later that year. They reasoned that Modi's projection would damage the party's prospects in their respective states. While the BJP was already ruling Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Congress was at the helm in Rajasthan.

Raje has been hit harder than Swaraj for her dealings with Lalit Modi. She is reported to have not only helped Lalit Modi for getting resident status in the United Kingdom but also having a conflict of interest in her son Lok Sabha MP Dushyant Singh's financial dealings with the former IPL chief.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Chouhan is already embroiled in the controversy surrounding the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam, also known as VYAPAM scam. He has been accused by Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh of accepting money for recommending names of candidates for the exam. The matter is sub judice in the Jabalpur High Court.

Raman Singh

The Chhattisgarh CM should consider himself lucky for not getting into any controversy after the NDA completed one year in power. Though Irani, Swaraj, Raje or Chouhan may not have resigned for now but their position in the party and their respective governments has certainly become untenable.