My Opinion

The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today demanded the Prime Minister’s resignation at the Vidhan Sabha over what he called were ‘flop raids’ conducted by the CBI at the office of Rajendra Kumar. The CBI on the other hand has said that they are investigating some crucial audio clips that they claim to have seized during the raids. The CBI has said they have found discrepancies in the manner in which tenders have been awarded from those clips. It would be interesting to see how Arvind Kejriwal would react if the CBI is able to prove all the charges against Rajendra Kumar.

Even Kirti Azad was aware that his suspension was bound to take place. The BJP top leadership has already decided on the course of action to be taken against him the day he decided to defy the party President’s summons to not hold a press conference. Amit Shah was waiting for the Parliament session to end. One will have to wait and watch, what action will be taken against the Darbhanga MP in the days to come

There is no harm in conducting a ritualistic ‘yagya’ but to conduct it at a time when the state is reeling under drought and condition of the farmers is anything but satisfactory, is completely out of line. According to non official figures, in the last one year about 1347 farmers have committed suicide in Telangana and the government figure puts it at 782 farmer suicides between June 2014 and December 2015. Recently even the call money scam was unearthed in the state. Questions are bound to be raised when a Chief Minister is seen to spend crores over a religious ritual at such a time. Chandrashekhar Rao however has said that he would not burden the state rather the cost is being borne out of his personal expense. But he should also reveal from where he has managed to get such a huge sum of money!

The Director General of BSF has said that the tragedy of the plane crash could have happened to anyone. He said it was sheer coincidence that at the time of the crash, apart from the pilot, a BSF technical crew was travelling on that aircraft. The DG also mentioned that Ministers and he himself have often travelled on this aircraft. The voice recorder has been recovered and sent for investigations which would ascertain the exact reasons behind the crash. However the feelings and sensitivities of the families of those who died in the crash would also have to be respected.

Jyoti’s parents have vehemently protested the release of Juvenile. They have said that he cannot get away merely on the pretext of his age. Even the Courts, the Government, the Police and the Public do not want the Juvenile to get away after having committed such a heinous crime simply because of his age. But as per the law of the land, there is no provision to keep an accused below the age of 18, for more than 3 years in prison. Even if the Rajya Sabha is successful in passing the Juvenile Justice Bill tomorrow, it will not have any bearing on the Juvenile accused in this rape case, however it would certainly ensure that in the future all such accused would have to serve their full term even if they are minors.

It was an historic act by Arun Jaitley today. He personally appeared in court to file a civil and criminal defamation case against those who have levelled personal charges against him. At Parliament too he went all out against the Opposition and gave a fitting reply and said he has nothing to hide. Kejriwal and his aides have often made wild allegations against others without substantiating their charges but this time there is no running away. Arun Jaitley is one of the best legal brains in the country who knows the law only too well. And it is no secret that he gave up on a well paying career in law and plunged into an active public life. Kejriwal and company is unlikely to find much support and it would not be far when the Delhi Chief Minister would regret having thrown mud at someone who is known for his high morals.

There are two things that I would like to highlight in this entire CBI-Kejriwal controversy. Arun Jaitley’s adversaries will also agree that he can never be involved in any corruption. I know him for 40 long years. He gave up a lucrative career in law and instead plunged into politics. He is a man of high moral standards. Arvind Kejriwal and his associates are certainly barking up the wrong tree. The Delhi CM infact does not want the corruption charges against his Principal Secretary to be in the headlines and is therefore trying his best to divert attention by bringing in charges against Arun Jaitley without much success.

Arvind Kejriwal is bent upon using diversionary tactics. There are serious corruption charges against his principal secretary Rajender Kumar. The CBI had sought the permission of the Court before conducting the raids. However with Rajendra Kumar being his most trusted aide, the Delhi Chief Minister appears to be in a fix. And in order to save Kumar, he first called the Prime Minister a “psychopath” and then tried to accuse Jaitley but has chosen to remain silent on the real issue!

The main reason behind the Arunachal controversy is that twenty one of the rebel congress MLAs have been in Delhi for the past two months hoping to meet Ms Sonia Gandhi with their complaints against Chief Minister Nabam Tuki. However after the Congress President refused to meet them, these MLAs decided to join hands with the BJP to form a new government in Arunachal Pradesh. And this has triggered a major political crisis in the state.

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments on a review of the existing reservation policy proved costly for BJP in the Bihar Assembly elections. However today the RSS Chief has come out strongly in favour of reservation. He has said that “as long as social discrimination remains in the society, reservation is needed.” However this clarification has come a bit too late…it has come after the damage has already been done!

The big question is whether CBI raided the Chief Minister’s office. Union Minister Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad has cleared the air by categorically stating that the raids have no connection whatsoever with Arvind Kejriwal and that he is unnecessarily getting involved without any basis. Perhaps, the Delhi Chief Minister should have gone through the merits of the case before crying foul. However now that he has jumped into the fray, there is no looking back for him since he has already taken a stand on this.

Rajendra Kumar has always been close to Arvind Kejriwal. The CBI has enough evidences to prove that the Principal Secretary favoured his sister-in-law’s company while granting a tender. It was the Anti Corruption Bureau that had first filed a complaint against him but the Chief Minister chose to ignore it. Arvind Kejriwal would have to explain why no action was taken against Rajendra Kumar despite being charged by the Anti Corruption Bureau. Instead of probing into the charges against Kumar, why did the Chief Minister accord him a room next to his? In his fight against corruption, Arvind Kejriwal cannot have different standards for different people.