BJP certifies itself as clean while central agencies go after opposition leaders.

Ukraine is investigating alleged kickbacks paid to officials of India’s defence ministry for a defence deal signed in November 2014. The kickbacks amounted to $2.6 million or Rs 17.55 crore.

As part of the investigation, Ukraine has sought India’s help. There was no scam in any type of deal, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. We should believe her claim because she says so. Even after the public revelation of these allegations, there seems to be no need for any independent enquiry.

There is no dearth of government institutions who investigate corruption. There’s the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Vigilance Commission, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the Financial Intelligence Unit, and so on. None of these are regarded as impartial. All these institutions have been going around conducting investigations against opposition leaders, their associates and donors.

If any of these institutions were to investigate the allegations made by Ukraine, they will probably come to the same conclusion as Nirmala Sitharaman: no kickbacks were received by any defence ministry official under the Modi government. But it is telling that the government doesn’t see the need even to order a sham enquiry.

One possibly independent institution which could look into such allegations is the Lokpal. Four years after coming to power in an election in which corruption was a major issue, the Modi government hasn’t been able to appoint an anti-corruption ombudsman. Despite orders from the Supreme Court, the process of appointing a Lokpal is moving at a speed slower than the drive to clean up the Ganga.

The Modi government and its supporters constantly remind us that there’s been no scam in this government. Just because a scam hasn’t come out in the public domain, it doesn’t mean there has been no scam. Ask Ukraine. If the Modi government has no corruption to hide, why has it been so reluctant to appoint a Lokpal?

Meanwhile, caged parrot CBI has been busy re-opening the files of the Bofors scam, which took place three decades ago!

The Modi government has similarly shown no inclination to order any investigation, not even a sham investigation, into serious allegations of financial wrongdoing against BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, and against senior union minister Piyush Goyal, and against allegations made by opposition parties in the purchase of Rafale fighter jets from France. It is possible that the allegations made in all these cases are false and politically motivated, but if the Modi government has nothing to hide, why not order an investigation?

Caged parrot CBI

Perhaps, the Modi government is overlooking the need to investigate these charges because all those myriad anti-corruption agencies are busy acting against opposition leaders. Congress leader P. Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram are facing the full force of the law. In the case of Piyush Goyal, mere denial is proof of innocence. In the matter of the Chidambarams, the government is out to see them in jail.

The CBI raided Delhi minister Satyendra Jain’s residence. What for? For allegedly violating some norms in hiring architects for the public works department. In the case of letters from Ukraine, a simple denial by the defence ministry is proof of innocence. In the case of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party, even hiring of architects is worthy of a CBI raid.

In Bihar, caged parrot CBI is moving at a snail’s pace in investigating the Rs 1,000-crore Srijan scam, and is so far unable to see any involvement of JD (U) leaders, ministers or chief minister Nitish Kumar. This has nothing to do with the JD (U) being an alliance partner of the BJP. If Nitish Kumar makes too much noise over seat-sharing in the 2019 elections, perhaps the CBI may get more active. For the moment, the only politicians in Bihar the various agencies see corruption charges against belong to the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal.

How far have the investigations into allegations of corruption against Himanta Biswa Sarma progressed now that he is a star of the BJP’s election machine in the northeast?

The most glaring example of the partisan use of anti-corruption agencies was in Karnataka, where the government was raiding one Congress leader after another, one Congress associate after another. This is a state where even the BJP supporters complain about the corrupt image of B.S. Yeddyurappa. The BJP did not hesitate in taking the help of the Reddy brothers of Ballari, who face more allegations of corruption and crime than most politicians. There were no raids against these people.

Self-declared innocence

With such partisan use of the anti-corruption agencies, the Modi government achieves two goals. One, it constantly seeks to show the opposition as corrupt, and highlight the contrast with its own self-declared innocence. Second, it stifles the opposition’s abilities to move cash in elections, while its own election effort flushes endless amounts of money.

The BJP’s leaders are not free of corruption just by virtue of being in the BJP. With the naked use of anti-corruption agencies as political vendetta, the Modi government is ensuring it’s not a level playing field. There is perhaps no action of the Modi government that’s more undemocratic than this.

Of course, the BJP might say others do the same when they are in power. Which is why the Modi government should make a beginning and appoint an independent Lokpal, order credible and independent investigations into corruption allegations against its leaders, and free the anti-corruption agencies from political control.

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