Will politics work with raids?
Central agencies have wreaked havoc in states where the Bharatiya Janata is a strong opposition party. Peace is only in those states where the BJP is either in power or has a very weak opposition and where the BJP does not see a political potential for itself in the near future. Such states are Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha etc. But the activism of central agencies in those states where the BJP has a strong opposition or is seeing potential for itself in the near future is unprecedented. CBI, Income Tax Department, ED and even NIA are conducting raids in those states. Maharashtra, Jharkhand and West Bengal can be named in such states. In Bihar, there is a BJP government in alliance with JDU, but even there the BJP is seeing a strong political prospect for itself, so the state government is not being allowed to rest.
There have been many cases against the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, his brother, his parents and many MLAs and officials of the party. From Election Commission to High Court and from CBI, ED, Income Tax Department to Supreme Court, the leaders of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha are making rounds. Similarly, in West Bengal, the investigation of central agencies against the nephew and daughter-in-law of the Chief Minister and many party leaders is going on and inquiries are being done every day. On the other hand, two leaders who were ministers in the Uddhav Thackeray government in Maharashtra are in jail. Investigations are going on by the central agencies against the family members of the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and his family members and the MPs and MLAs of Shiv Sena-NCP.
There is a BJP and JDU government in Bihar but the main opposition party RJD is strong and if JDU decides to leave, its game with RJD may freeze. Before any such possibility is realized, the entire Lalu family has been taken under the scanner by the CBI in a case of one and a half decades old.
If someone says and believes that agencies are independent and all these things are being done in routine, then he is not a person of this planet. Whatever is happening is in front of everyone and the motive is also not hidden. But where is the political initiative? Is it that because of the failure of the political initiative or its success is doubtful, attempts are being made to tarnish the reputation of the opposition parties, harass them and create political instability? Keep in mind that on the basis of a well-planned campaign and campaign, efforts are being made to prove the leaders of the opposition either corrupt or foolish. Propaganda of good works of the government has its place, but the emphasis of propaganda against the opposition is more visible. But on its own it is not possible to change the politics of the states.
The raids and actions of central agencies have their place, but unless the BJP takes any concrete political initiative, it is not possible to bring down the government of other parties or achieve electoral success. Governments do not fall by the raids of central agencies. Had this been the case, Lalu Prasad’s government in Bihar would have collapsed in 1997, when he came under CBI custody and made his wife the chief minister. Lalu Prasad was defeated not because of the action of the agencies but because of the political initiative led by Nitish Kumar. That too after eight years of being caught by the CBI! BJP needs to understand this. In Jharkhand, the government will not fall due to raids or action of agencies against the Chief Minister’s family and party leaders. Anyway, why should there be an effort to topple an elected government, but if the BJP is making such an effort, then it will have to take political initiative, as was the initiative in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. In Karnataka, the government fell due to the well-planned plan of BS Yediyurappa, while in Madhya Pradesh the government fell due to the initiative of Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the rebellion of Jyotiraditya Scindia. Where is such a situation in Jharkhand? Where in Jharkhand does BJP have Yeddyurappa or Shivraj or where is there any Scindia happening in JMM-Congress?
Similarly, in Maharashtra, BJP took a political initiative and formed the government with Ajit Pawar. The governor also administered oath to Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister and Ajit Pawar as deputy chief minister. Think, was Pawar a milk wash then? Even then he was accused of irrigation scam, allegations of irregularities in cooperative sugar mills, allegations of irregularities in cooperative banks and many other charges. But BJP took them along and formed the government. When that political effort failed and Ajit Pawar became the Deputy Chief Minister in the Mahavikas Aghadi government, the central agencies started cracking down on him and the entire family. There is no moral force behind these actions. Therefore, all the allegations may be true but action on those allegations will not lead to desired results. Be it Jharkhand or Maharashtra, since there is no concrete political initiative like BJP, nothing will be achieved on the basis of raids and action of central agencies alone.
In West Bengal, a year ago, Mamta Banerjee won a big victory for the third time. His third victory was bigger than both the earlier victories, while action by central agencies against his family and other party leaders was going on before the elections. Clearly, the action against Mamata’s family and the Trinamool Congress on corruption charges did not yield the desired political result. So, what will be the result now? In the last one year, the BJP car seems to have derailed. Its leaders are constantly leaving the party. Bengal is the only state where Ganga is flowing in reverse. All over the country leaders of other parties are joining BJP, while in Bengal BJP MPs and MLAs are also joining Trinamool. BJP should understand this signal. In Bengal, the BJP has no political agenda, no strong organization and no leaders. Therefore BJP will not be able to come to power there due to raids.
The BJP has to understand that whether it is Jharkhand or Maharashtra or West Bengal, just because BJP is a strong opposition party in these states, it cannot come to power by destabilizing or disturbing the government. BJP will come to power only when it takes political initiative, strengthens leadership, sets agenda and takes the organization forward. In this state, such leaders want to become the Chief Minister and in that state such leaders are fighting their hands, then the elected governments do not fall from it.