Political battle ahead looks uphill for corruption-ridden opposition parties

The Grand Alliance meeting held in Patna was completed without any draft. Other big issues of the country including corruption did not figure in the agenda before the united opposition. BJP got an opportunity to attack by not speaking a single word on corruption in the meeting of opposition parties. This is the reason why the Prime Minister and the BJP are ridiculing the efforts of this alliance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at the efforts of opposition parties to unite in a meeting in Bhopal. He said that the list of his scams is so long that even the court is tired. Regarding corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that some people live only for their own party, want to do good to the party and they do all this because they get their share of corruption, commission and cut money. The path he has chosen does not require much effort.

Regarding the meeting of opposition parties in Patna, PM Modi said that nowadays one word comes again and again – Guarantee. All these opposition parties are a guarantee of corruption. This is the guarantee of scams worth lakhs of crores. He said that he had a photo op program a few days back. If we take the total of all the people in that photo together, then all of them together are a guarantee of a scam worth at least Rs 20 lakh crore. Attacking the meeting of opposition parties which ended without any concrete programme, Modi said that Congress alone has a scam worth lakhs of crores. These parties have only experience of scams and that’s why if they have any guarantee, it is the guarantee of scams. If he has a guarantee of scam, then Modi also has a guarantee, a guarantee of action against every scammer. The surprising thing is that none of the opposition parties, who have been alleging misuse of ED and CBI against the central government, have even refuted the Prime Minister’s allegations. The opposition parties have already been defeated by the Supreme Court against the action of the ED. The Supreme Court refused to interfere in the ED’s action.

Prime Minister Modi’s allegations of corruption against the opposition get strength from the fact that in most of the cases of corruption against the opposition leaders, the court has not given any relief. In this episode, a case of Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji has also been involved. Minister Balaji was arrested on June 14 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the cash-for-jobs case. The Chennai Sessions Court has ordered extension of judicial custody till July 12. A petition was filed against this in the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the decision of the High Court. Significantly, Balaji is accused of giving a job in the Transport Department after taking a bribe.

For the opposition, the issue of eradicating corruption may not be important, but India’s situation in this matter is appalling. India has been ranked 85 on the Corruption Perceptions Index 2022 out of 180 countries with a score of 40. This index, which measures the level of corruption in countries around the world, is released every year by the organization Transparency International. Certainly, this situation of India has been created due to the rampant corruption in the states. There is widespread corruption, especially in the states ruled by opposition parties. This has never become a matter of concern for the opposition parties. According to the report of the Indian Corruption Survey 2019, Rajasthan ranked number one in the list of most corrupt states. Bihar stood second in this list of corruption. In Bihar’s survey, 75 percent people said that they had to pay bribe to get the work done. 50 per cent people said that they had to pay money to the officials several times. About 25 per cent people said that they had to pay bribe only once or twice. Jharkhand came third in the list of corrupt states in the country. 74 per cent people said that they had to pay bribe to get their work done. 74 percent of these people said that they had given bribe several times. Uttar Pradesh ranks fourth in corruption in the country. Here 74 per cent people said that they had to pay bribe to get their work done.

The Congress could not even respond to the allegations of corruption leveled by Prime Minister Modi. Its proof is Rajasthan. The condition of the Congress on the issue of corruption can be gauged from the fact that the BJP in Rajasthan has presented corruption cases with proofs. Despite this, none of the senior Congress leaders including Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot thought it appropriate to even protest against it. BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Kirori Lal Meena has now filed a complaint against Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, after filing a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate against the Department of Information Technology and Communications over an alleged scam of Rs 5,000 crore. MP Meena has made a serious allegation of Rs 20,000 crore scam against PHED Minister Mahesh Joshi and PHED Additional Chief Secretary Subodh Agarwal under Jal Jeevan Mission in Rajasthan. BJP MP Dr. Kirori Lal Meena accused Minister Dhariwal of distributing land worth 45 crores at throwaway prices.

Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal has opened a front against the gravel mafia in Rajasthan. Former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has already accused Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of shielding corruption. Pilot accused the Gehlot government of a scam of Rs 45,000 crore during the tenure of former BJP chief minister Vasundhara Raje. It is certain that until and unless the opposition parties clear their stand on issues related to national interest including corruption, it is not easy to win the trust of the people of the country despite being united. The BJP will continue to target the opposition parties.

– Yogendra Yogi