Badri Raina 
Tucked away in a diminished and inoffensive corner of an inside page in The Indian Express of September 29 is a story the sort of which one does not expect to read these days.
It speaks of a special court in Bengaluru ordering a first information report against the union finance minister, some members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and officers of the Enforcement Directorate under sections 384 (extortion) and 120 B (conspiracy) in relation to their alleged role in having forced two corporates, M/S Sterlite and M/S Vedanta to cough up some Rs 230 crores in electoral bonds.
This follows failed attempts made earlier from April 15 by a citizen’s organisation to persuade the police to do so.
The complainant, Adarsh R. Iyer, co-president of the Janadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath alleged that these corporates were subjected to multiple raids till they complied with the objective of buying electoral bonds.
As per said report, the complainant has submitted details of the processes through which the episode was carried out.
Unsurprisingly, the Congress at a press conference has demanded the resignation of the finance minister, the summoning by the law enforcement agencies of all those named and involved, and a Special Investive Team enquiry under the aegis of the Supreme Court.
The senior advocate, Abhishekh Manu Singvi has speculated that the revelations have unmasked the true face of the BJP, especially their number one and two where the buck stops.
He has underlined that the FIR in the case is not an ordinary one, but significantly ordered by the special court and then filed by the Bengaluru police.
Here is the question: given the practice of the ruling BJP in time and again demanding the resignation of adversaries on mere, non-registered allegations levelled against them, how may the party-with-a-difference talk its way out of the enormity of the case in point?
And will the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s self-esteem and honourable profile permit her to filibuster this one through unbecoming sophistry, or will she indeed prove her mettle by stepping down till her innocence in the matter is established?
And will all the others involved in the FIR follow that example?
After all, there may not be a washing machine big enough to neuter a court-ordered investigation.
It will of course be the hope of all those who regard Nirmala Sitharaman highly that allegations against her will prove to be infructuous, but surely she is not someone who would want to duck the probe.
Badri Raina taught at Delhi University.