New Delhi: The rain of scams has coincided with the arrival of rains across India. June has been the cruellest month for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre. When many political leaders and wheeler dealers were away from New Delhi to escape from its oppressive heat, scams made their way to newspaper and TV headlines. The former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi caused a major tremor in political circles by dropping several bombshells, accusing many top leaders of corruption.
After his links with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj came out in the public, combative Lalit Modi went ballistic. He started tweeting against a lot of big leaders including Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the first family of the Congress – the Gandhis, BJP MP Varun Gandhi, Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley, Congress MP Rajiv Shukla and many others have been hit by Modi bullets.
The media also went hysteric over his sensational and juicy charges. A visibly shaken BJP leadership tried to put up a brave face defending its leaders. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who rode to power on the promise of corruption free governance kept quite. He refused to be dragged into the debate. Modi's silence gave ammunition to the opposition parties and they are still taking pot shots at him by calling him 'Maun Modi'.
In the meantime, the BJP led government in Maharashtra also came under severe attack. Three of its ministers faced corruption charges within a span of just one week. Once again, the BJP top leadership of the BJP threw its weight behind its ministers.
A section of the media and the opposition have been disappointed by BJP's deft handling of situation. According to some political analysts, their hopes of forcing a few leaders to quit have been dashed by the adamant BJP leadership.
A top leader of the BJP and Union Home Ministers Rajnath Singh even went to the extent of saying that BJP ministers are not like UPA ministers and the NDA government is not like UPA government to ask its ministers to resign inviting a barrage of criticism. However, unfazed Rajnath Singh defended his statement.
Going a step further Union Law minister DV Sadananda Gowda has described the Vyapam Scam as a 'silly' issue. Reacting to the media, he said "it is a silly issue. The PM need not react to it."
The latest scam to hit the BJP is Vyapam Scam of Madhya Pradesh. Actually, it is an old scam, conveniently ignored by the media and politicians in the past. A few recent 'unnatural' deaths have brought the focus back on Vyapam Scam. The demand for a Supreme Court monitored CBI probe is growing every passing day. Opposition is also demanding the head of MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who is allegedly protecting the big fish of the scam.
Once again the national leadership of the BJP is keeping quiet over the developments. The PM Modi has left for his Central Asia and Russia tour. He has once again refused to comment on the scam. Shockingly and surprisingly, the Modi government is refusing to sack MP Governor Ram Naresh Yadav who was earlier named as accused number 10 in the Vyapam scam. The same government has sacked a dozen Congress appointed Governors in the last one year for political reasons. But, surprisingly silent on Ram Naresh Yadav.
Another old scam 'the rice scam' has also resurfaced in the BJP ruled Chhattisgarh. According to some media reports, the rice scam is worth over Rs 36,000 crores. This scam is also an old scam like Vyapam and conveniently ignored by the media and politicians in the past.
The BJP appointed Lokayukta of Karnataka Justice Y Bhaskara Rao is also facing serious charges of corruption in Karnataka. He is accused of extorting hundreds of crores from corrupt government officials through his son and some brokers. Bhaskara Rao is also refusing to quit. He was appointed by the previous BJP government led by Jagadish Shettar.
Even after a month long coverage of scams, there is no sign of any BJP leader quitting or the BJP top leadership acting against any of its 'tainted' leaders. The people hope that the Prime Minister will break his long silence over allegations of series of serious scams. If he wants to learn from the past, he does not need to go too far. He can learn from his predecessor Dr. Manmohan Singh whom he and his party ridiculed calling him 'Maunmohan' Singh for his silence over the corruption charges against his government.
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