For the first time in 10 years, the spotlight of allegations of corruption is on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – thanks to media reporting the details of corporate funding from tainted companies under investigation and from companies with which the BJP has had what appears to be quid pro quo arrangements.
It was precisely the likelihood of such quid pro quo arrangements which led the Supreme Court to deliver its February 15, 2024 judgment declaring unconstitutional the use of anonymous electoral bonds as a means of political financing and ordering that the identities of purchasers and recipients be promptly disclosed.
Instead of investigating whether there was indeed inappropriate acceptance of funds from tainted companies or – at the very least – introspecting over its flawed scheme, the Modi government has chosen to counterattack the INDIA coalition that is accusing it of extortion.
To deflect attention from itself, the Modi government arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 21, 2024 – the very day on which the Election Commission released data linking the BJP to 41 companies (facing a probe by the CBI, ED or Income Tax), which gave Rs 2471 crores to the BJP through electoral bonds, of which Rs 1,698 crore was donated after raids by those agencies. For the first time, there was material in the public domain possibly linking corporate contributions to extortion by government agencies. At least that is the view of the opposition and a section of the media.
Fragile narrative bordering on brinkmanship
The upshot of the Supreme Court’s electoral bonds judgment is that instead of seeking votes on the basis of what the Modi government says it has achieved – in terms of economic growth, infrastructure, social and economic welfare schemes, and the Ram Mandir – the prime minister has opted for an electoral narrative that seeks to combat the Opposition’s charge of corruption and authoritarianism by BJP. The brinkmanship and fragility associated with this strategy is that its battle for the ‘we are clean, the opposition is corrupt’ narrative is being pressed concurrently in the courts (where the demand for bail by arrested opposition leaders is being opposed tooth and nail) and at the hustings – as in Modi’s Meerut campaign speech this week.
Up until the grant of bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on April 2, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was viewed as a failsafe weapon in the hands of the government. In his campaign rallies, Modi has made it a point to stress not only that opposition chief ministers Hemant Soren and Kejriwal and AAP ministers Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendra Jain were in jail but that the fact that the courts were not granting them bail was proof of their involvement in corruption.
Consider Modi’s inaugural campaign speech at Meerut on March 31, 2024, the principal theme of which was the issue of corruption. Sure, the Ram Temple, Article 370, OROP, ‘Modi ki guarantee’ that India will be 3rd largest economy,, Ayushman Bharat, free food for 80 crore people, 50 crore bank accounts, 4 crore pucca houses, 11 crore toilets, etc were mentioned, but the thrust was on fighting corruption. The entire portion of his speech devoted to combatting corruption is reproduced verbatim:
He said:
“Beete dus saalon mein bhrashtachar ke khilaaf itni badi ladai, gareeb ka paisa koi hadap na paaye humne dus crore farji laabharti hataye hain, Modi ne himmat ki hai, paune teen lakh crore rupay bachaye hain;
(In the past 10 years I have fought a big battle against corruption. To ensure that the money of the poor is not grabbed by someone I have removed 10 crore fictitious beneficiaries and thereby saved 2.75 lakh crore rupees.)
“Kuch log baukhla gaye hain. Modi ki garanti kahti hai Modi ka mantra hai bhrashtachar hatao wo kahte hain bhrastachari bachao, ye chunaau in dono khemo ki ladai hai, ek khema NDA ka jo bhrastachar hatane ke liye maidaan mein hai doosra wo khema jo bhrastachariyon ko bachane ke liye maidan mein hai, faisla aap ko karna hai.
(Some people are flabbergasted. It is Modi’s guarantee, its Modi’s mantra to remove corruption. They say save corruption. This election is a battle between two groups, one is NDA which is in the field to remove corruption, the other group is in the field to save the corrupt. The decision is in your hand.)
“Kya bhrastachariyon ko bachana hai (repeated three times)? Bhrastachar jana chahiye ki nahin chahiye? Bhrastachar hatna chahiye ki nahi hatna chahiye? Bhrastachar khatam hona chahiye ki nahin khatam hona chahiye? Aur isliye bhaiyon aur bahnon Modi poori taakat se bharastachar ke khilaaf ladai lad raha hai. To inlogon ne milkar ek INDI gathbandhan bhi bana liya hai.
(Do we have to save the corrupt? Do we have to save the corrupt? Do we have to save the corrupt? Should corruption go or not go? Should corruption be removed or not removed? Should corruption be finished or not finished? So brothers and sisters Modi is fighting corruption with his full strength. And so these people have got together to form an INDI alliance.)
“Inko lagta hai ki Modi inse dar jaaye ga. Lekin mere liye mera Bharat mera parivaar hai (repeated). Main apne desh ko bhrastachariyon se bachane ke liye jo kadam uthaye ja rahe hain unke khilaaf ek bahut badi ladai ladi (ja) rahi hai. Aur isliye bade bade bhrastachari aaj salaakhon ke peecha hain. Supreme Court tak jamaanat nahin mil rahi hai. Aur isliye kai bade bade bhrastachariyon ko court ke chakkar lagane pad rahe hain. Aur isliye poore desh mein aapne TV pe dekha hoga kai bistar ke neeche se noton ke dher nikal rahe hain. Kahin deewalon se noton ke dher nikal rahe hain. Aur abhi abhi to maine dekha washing machine mein noton ke dher the.
(These people think Modi will be scared of them. But for me Bharat is my family. But for me Bharat is my family. I am taking steps to save my country from the corrupt and a big fight is going on against the corrupt. And that is why many very big corrupt people are behind bars. Even they are not getting bail from the Supreme Court. Therefore very big corrupt people are doing the rounds of courts. And therefore in the whole country you must have seen on TV that wads of currency notes are coming out of beds and sometimes from walls. And just now I saw wads of currency notes in washing machines. (Emphasis added))
“Saathiyon mein bhrastachariyon par sirf karvahi hi nahin kar raha lekin mere desh waasi meri baat samazh leejiye meri garanti hai in bhrastachariyon ne in beimaano ne jiska dhan loota hai us dhan ko main lauta bhi raha hoon. Congress ki sarkar ke dauraan gareebon ka, chote niveshakon ka bankon ka hajaron karoron rupiah hadap liya gaya. Aapko khusi hogi saathiyon humne bhrastachariyon ki sampatti japt karke 17000 crore rupiye (repeated) kitne kitne 17000 crore rupiye se jaada maine un jinke paise gaye the unko wapis lauta diya hai. Jinka paisa gaya hai unke paise wapis mile iske liye main lagataar kaam kar raha hoon.
(Friends, I am not just taking action against the corrupt. My country persons understand what I am saying, the corrupt and the dishonest who have looted the wealth, that wealth I am also returning. Congress during its rule had gobbled up the rupees of the poor, the small businesses and banks. Mates you will be happy to know that I have seized the properties of the corrupt and recovered 17,000 crores of rupees, more than 17,000 crores of rupees and given it back to those from whom this money was taken by the corrupt. I am constantly working so that those who lost their money can get their money back.)
“ED ne jo sampatti japt ki hai aur agar record milta hai ki jiske paise hain ussi se paise gaye hain to Modi aapke paise waapis dilwaane ke liye jee jaan se ladne waala hai. Aur main aaj Meerut ki ye dharti krantikariyon ki ye dharti veeron ki dharti se bhrastachariyon ko saaf saaf kah raha hoon bhrastachari kaan khol ke sun len ye Modi par chahe kitne bhi humle karen ye Modi hai rukne waala nahin hai. Bhrastachari chahe kitna bhi bada na ho action hoga jaroor hoga. Jisne desh ko loota hai use lautana hi padega. Ye Modi ki garanti hai.”
(The properties that have been seized by ED, and if the record is found that who’s money it was and it has gone from that person, then Modi will fight for you with all his might. And today I from this land of revolutionaries and the brave, that is Meerut, I am clearly telling the corrupt and the corrupt open their ears and listen that on this Modi there may be so many attacks but this Modi is not going to stop. How so ever big may be the corrupt, action will definitely be taken. Those who have looted the country will have to return the loot. This is Modi’s guarantee.)
False narrative
Looking at the type of exaggerated, crude and misleading messaging resorted to by Modi in his Meerut speech, one is reminded of the Supreme Court’s reference in its electoral bonds judgment to the risk of the voter being uninformed.
Also read: Kejriwal’s Arrest Takes India From the Rule of Law into the Rule of a Tyrant
Modi spoke about the discovery of wads of notes from beds, walls and washing machines soon after saying that the Supreme Court had not granted bail to powerful corrupt people who were behind bars. What he wanted his audience to believe was that this cash was recovered from those whom his government has arrested. But this is clearly not the case. Indeed, it has now emerged in court that no money has been recovered from any of the ‘very big people’ Modi referred to. Indeed, this was one of the main grounds on which the Supreme Court granted bail to AAP leader Sanjay Singh.
Modi has been clever in his draftsmanship and most of his audience will not realise they are being misled. While Modi is not expected to tell his voters how many leaders with big corruption cases against them have been inducted into BJP and awarded with ministerial posts, he is surely expected, as prime minister, not to mislead people about the recovery of cash. As the prime minister he also knows that the denial of bail under the PMLA does not mean an accused is guilty and yet he cites their failure to get bail as proof of corruption.
Modi’s message in his Meerut speech and the concomitant propaganda was punctured by the Supreme Court when Sanjay Singh got bail. The case of Kejriwal is bound to come up before the top court too. It is for the apex court to decide whether Kejriwal is a political prisoner arrested under the cover of the draconian PMLA so that a ruling party can encash the popular perception of corruption which is associated with the inability to get bail; whether Kejriwal should be stopped from campaigning in an election that is meant to be free and fair; whether there is such an overwhelming presumption of guilt that his incarceration throughout the election campaign is warranted; and whether the irreparable loss to the AAP by preventing a chief minister from campaigning in a general election can be obviated by allowing him to be freed on bail to campaign, and then be re-arrested, if necessary, after the votes are cast. Needless to say, such a test would apply to Soren as well.
The issue of corruption is no doubt important and cannot be ignored. Which is why the Supreme Court also needs to order a court-monitored probe into the electoral bonds received from companies that were being investigated by various government agencies.
Rahul Singh is a former civil servant who retired from the Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
