Money is the most important thing in politics but the question is whether BJP and Narendra Modi are winning elections only on the basis of money? It cannot be said that. The BJP has made the election a money game, but at the same time it has also made arrangements that in some way or the other, the source of money of the opposition parties, especially the regional satraps, should be closed. Remember, in November 2016, when the Prime Minister had announced the closure of 500 and 1000 rupee notes at a notice of four hours, what was his political narrative! There was propaganda of BJP supporters in social media that demonetisation is a masterstroke because black money of both the regional satraps in Uttar Pradesh will end. Significantly, demonetisation took place in November and assembly elections were due in five states including Uttar Pradesh in February-March.
So, before the election, such a cash crunch arose that all the parties were tied. At that time the main opposition party of the state BSP had to declare and deposit hundreds of crores of its rupees in the bank. That was the second year of Narendra Modi’s power. Then he made demonetisation a weapon. After that the orgy of CBI, Income Tax and ED started. In the next six years of his rule, there was probably no party left in the country, whose key leaders were not tightened by the central agencies. It seems as if Prime Minister Modi already knew everything and exposed all the parties. All the leaders were caught in the case of taking bribe and accumulating unaccounted wealth. This had two advantages. Firstly, the money of those opposing parties was confiscated by the agencies and the source of the money was closed and secondly, the credibility of the opposition leaders was tarnished.
Surprisingly, no one has learned from Narendra Modi that whatever you do, but preach that I am a fakir, what do I need money for. There is a perception among the common people about Prime Minister Modi that he does all his work with his salary money. They do not take a single rupee from anyone. He did not create any property for himself. Leave your brothers and nephews ahead, they do not even keep their old mother with them. In contrast, the opposition parties were perceived to be dynastic, promote kin and nephews, treat government property as their property, collect money for themselves, build houses and take land. From Lalu Prasad’s family to BSP supremo Mayawati and from Mulayam family to Mamta Banerjee’s family, almost all the satraps are surrounded by such allegations. Pawar family in Maharashtra or KCR in Telangana, Jagan Mohan in Andhra Pradesh and Karunanidhi family in Tamil Nadu have also faced similar allegations and the sword of investigation by central agencies is hanging.
Narendra Modi has created an impression that whatever he is doing first for the country and then for the party. Not doing anything for you. Think, what does the Prime Minister need to do for himself? They have got all the comforts of the world because of their position, which they take full advantage of, then what is the need to collect money for themselves? All he has to do is to make arrangements that the party wins the election no matter how much it costs so that he stays in office. So, if the regional satraps had strengthened the party and mobilized resources for the party, instead of building private wealth and amassing immense wealth, their image and position would have survived.
In this sense, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar looked relatively clean. But the arrest of Partha Chatterjee, leader and minister of Mamata Banerjee’s party and the recovery of over Rs 50 crore in cash from his close aide, has decisively dented his credibility. Despite the arrest of Satyendar Jain and the sword of a CBI probe on Manish Sisodia, there is a perception about Kejriwal that he is honest and is not collecting anything for himself. He and his wife were both IRS officers and both their children are studying in IIT. Similarly, there is a perception about Nitish Kumar that he is not collecting anything for himself. Such leaders are being seen as a challenge to the Prime Minister. So it will be interesting to see what comes out to tarnish their reputation.
