The Congress and other parties are making their last-ditch effort to try to malign the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi knowing fully well that Modi is the country’s best bet to fight corruption in government, bureaucracy, politics and various other spheres of public life. The Congress’ high-decibel campaign in Karnataka seeks to derail the fight against corruption but it is sure to fail as other similar campaigns have failed earlier.
The state is slated to witness the ‘Modi magic’ once again. The prime minister will launch a full-blown campaign in the last 15 days before the state witness polls. Modi is the lone crusader fighting against corruption and the myth created by the Congress and other Opposition parties would fall flat since the campaign would enable people to see the truth through the anti-corruption prism — the Modi parameters.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tried a similar smear campaign during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on the issue of the Rafale deal but failed desperately. His “Chowkidar Chor Hai” campaign was stunted and blown to pieces by the slogan “Mai Bhi Chowkidar” coined by Modi and followed by the BJP workers and his millions of supporters across the world. Rahul’s campaign fell like a pack of cards and the Congress could not prevent the BJP from winning more Lok Sabha seats than those in 2014.
The Congress’ slogan in Karnataka of ‘40 percent cut government’ has emanated from the allegations labelled by the contractors’ association that failed to substantiate the allegations. A state CID inquiry into one such allegation of corruption against KS Eshwarappa found no truth in the whole case. But Eshwarappa, who was the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, had to resign to save embarrassment to the party.
The Congress has committed the mistake of holding on to a slogan that may evoke the laughter of onlookers in a rally but cannot be substantiated. On the contrary, this campaign has given the BJP a handle to browbeat the Congress and talk about its proven track record on corruption. Corruption is not the Congress’ strong forte.
Not long ago, people had seen the visuals of senior Congress leader, DK Shivakumar, throwing Rs 500 notes at the crowd that had gathered to watch his road show in Mandya last month. Such a naked display of wealth and erosion of political morality put the Congress in the dock. He is a person already maligned. Cases of disproportionate assets have already been registered against him and the high court, last Thursday, rejected his plea against the CBI investigation. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2019 in a money laundering case. The Income Tax (IT) department found him to be involved in hawala transactions and unearthed unaccounted assets worth crores of Rupees.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is himself facing charges of fraud in the National Herald Case and both he and his mother, Sonia Gandhi, are out on personal bail bond of Rs 50,000 each. The case involves the use of party funds to buy property worth thousands of crores in the name of private individuals. Rahul cannot even talk of vendetta politics here because the lower court has taken cognisance of the case and the higher courts have refused to grant a stay on the proceedings.
The list of omissions and commissions by the Congress and other Opposition parties is very long. Leaders of all these parties know that the law will come catching very soon. The prime minister is not just talking about their corruption but has also enacted legislation to strengthen the fight against the loot of the exchequer. Now it is becoming increasingly difficult to own benami property or save money in the bank without an address or accountability. The IT-enabled systems of administrative checks would help track such properties.
Earlier, people used to buy assets abroad without the fear of being caught. Some even shifted outside to escape the law. But now, it is not possible, since such properties can easily be confiscated if the source of money is proven to be corruption or fraud. It has become easier to track financial crimes.
And those who ask why the BJP leaders are not getting caught should know that the law applies equally to all. Those in the know of things know that it is very difficult to make money using government power. The way Modi is keeping an eye on ministers and MPs, very soon there would be no premium on becoming MPs or MLAs or ministers. Those who took politics to be a shortcut to becoming rich would be disillusioned.
Till now, the Opposition has not been able to come up with a single case where it can show any minister making money due to his office or influence. There may be talks of corruption to create an impression that the Modi government or other state governments run by the BJP are equally bad. But there’s not an iota of evidence.
The Congress should learn from its past experience that it can’t catch Modi on the wrong foot. Ever since Gujarat days, the Congress has been trying to put Modi on the back foot. They had come up with various allegations of corruption and favouritism including undue favours to some business houses. Modi had set up a judicial commission to probe the allegations and nothing was found to be true.
The same is going to be the case of high-voltage allegations of favouring the Adanis. Modi, while taking decisions, knows that he would come under public scrutiny. He formulates a policy and the structure and anyone who qualifies gets the government contract. The policy is not twisted for anyone because he has none to favour. What is good for the country is good for him.
People know that Modi is not corrupted and hence, cannot be manipulated. This is the reason why he still stands tall. He has the trust of the people with him, unlike others, who talk big about fighting corruption but do secret deals in the closets. The Karnataka victory of the BJP would bear the Modi stamp and embolden the decisive fight against corruption.
The writer is the convener of the media relations department of the BJP and represents the party as a spokesperson on TV debates. He has authored the book ‘Narendra Modi: The Game Changer’. The views expressed are personal.
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