#PollVault: Southern Hospitality for Amit Shah and the IT Department
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New Delhi: The south can seem like a different country, especially during a general election. Communal politics are still less salient and the Bharatiya Janata Party is only a major player in one state, Karnataka. The Congress too has been diminished since its heyday in the 1980s – so the south remains partially aloof from the heavyweight slugging of the two giants.
The colour of money, however, is the same everywhere – and where there is too much cash, the Election Commission of India (ECI) must follow.
On Tuesday, April 16 the election from Tamil Nadu’s Vellore seat was cancelled by the ECI. This was just 48 hours before all of Tamil Nadu, and half of Karnataka, go to vote. The dramatic decision was based on the seizure, 11 days earlier, of Rs 11 crore in cash, stored in a cement godown.
This godown allegedly belonged to a DMK functionary (the DMK is the Congress’s ally in Tamil Nadu). The DMK alliance’s candidate, Kathir Anand, is the son of the party’s treasurer.
According to the order, “The commission is fully satisfied that the current electoral process in 8-Vellore parliamentary constituency … has been seriously vitiated on account of unlawful activities” by candidates.
Tamil Nadu is the state with the largest value of cash-seizures this election. Also on Tuesday, the ECI postponed voting in Tripura East, out of concerns about the law and order situation.
More money, more problems
Back in Vellore, by Tuesday night, Kathir Anand had responded to the commissioners, protesting that the raids were ‘illegal’, that ‘the ruling BJP-AIADMK parties have misused and abused the Income Tax Department,’ and that the owner of the godown where the cash was found ‘has no connection whatsoever to me or my constituency’.
The dust had not settled in Vellore when IT officials arrived at Thoothukudi, to raid the campaign residence of Kanimozhi – daughter of the late DMK supremo Karunanidhi and sister of the party’s present chief, M.K. Stalin. The raid ended around 10:30pm.
Stalin protested the raid, saying "Tamilisai Soundarajan [BJP state president, also contesting from Thoothukudi] has several crores of money at her residence. Why no raids at her place? Despite a proper complaint to the election commission, no action has been taken.”
Also read | Kanimozhi vs Thamizhisai: Clash of Titans in Thoothukudi
He joined a chorus of leaders – in states including Andhra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal – accusing the ruling BJP of using the IT department to target opposition candidates.
Another day of fake news and low blows
If Tamil Nadu had visitors in khakhi, then Karnataka had visitors in saffron on Tuesday. Ahead of the ‘silent period’ immediately preceding the Phase 2 vote, BJP president Amit Shah took his ‘rath’ out for a spin in Tumkur, north of Bengaluru.
Tumkur is the constituency newly picked by H.D. Deve Gowda, the former prime minister and party chief of the Janata Dal (Secular). In the past three decades, Deve Gowda has contested and won five times from Hassan – this year, however, the 86-year-old leader ceded that legacy seat to his grandson, Prajwal Revanna.
Fake news also continued on its own parade – on Tuesday, courtesy the BJP Karnataka’s Twitter handle, and the newspaper Vijayavani, founded by a BJP MP. Both publicised a letter, long established as fake, that claimed Congress leader M.B. Patil “conspired to break the Lingayat community in 2017”.
Elsewhere in the country, the merry-go-round of verbal abuse and low blows continued: An FIR against the BJP’s Himachal chief for slanging off Rahul Gandhi; a complaint against Rahul Gandhi for persisting in calling Modi a ‘chor’; and action against Modi… sorry, of course there was no action against Modi.
The prime minister continued to appropriate the successes of the armed forces – despite an ECI order and a petition from over 150 veterans asking for that to stop.
Speaking in Chhattisgarh, Modi said the strength of ‘one vote’ (a unified vote for him) had enabled India’s surgical strike and air strike on Pakistan.
This article went live on April seventeenth, two thousand nineteen, at nine minutes past eight in the morning.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
