By Our Editor
It is becoming customary for the ruling party at the Centre to poach Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in the opposition-ruled states by all means and thereby create instability so that ultimately they will benefit. One such recent incident was the targeting of MLAs belonging to ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi, especially Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. On August 23, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered money laundering case to probe alleged irregularities in Delhi excise policy allegedly involving Sisodia and others under criminal sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of CBI First Information Report (FIR) alleging that irregularities were practised by the minister in executing excise matters and by virtue of which he has reaped great undue benefits. Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena in July recommended CBI probe into anomalies in implementation of Delhi’s Excise Policy 2021-22 which Sisodia also willingly accepted. Sisodia holds various portfolios in Delhi government including excise and education.
Taking pre-emptive action and also to show that his minister has been wrongly maligned without any proof at all, Arvind Kejriwal tabled the confidence motion on September 1 in Delhi Assembly and which was consequently passed with a huge mandate. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that by doing so successfully, he wanted to prove to the country that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could not buy or easily intimidate AAP MLAs and thus exposed the evil designs of the saffron party’s ‘Operation Lotus’ which had failed in Delhi. AAP has 62 MLAs in the 70-member assembly and the remaining eight belongs to BJP. Three BJP MLAs were marshalled out of Delhi Assembly for creating ruckus inside the House with their unnecessary demand and the rest simply staged walk-out knowing fully well that they were outnumbered and outwitted. The main intention of Kejriwal was to let the nation know about the ruling BJP which wanted to take over Delhi administration under ‘Operation Lotus’. Not satisfied with their humiliating defeat inside the House, MLAs of opposition BJP staged a sit-in outside the chief minister’s residence levelling corruption charges against the Kejriwal government. Meanwhile, the CBI, which raided Sisodia, went to his village and even searched his bank locker. Kejriwal claimed that after the CBI did not find anything against the deputy chief minister, the agency was now under pressure from the BJP government at the Centre to arrest him. He challenged the BJP calling it the ‘hardcore corrupt’ party which lacks educated people while AAP is the ‘hardcore honest party’ which has good, educated and well-qualified people.
Not contended with failure in Delhi, the next move of the Centre was Jharkhand state ruled by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). The ruling coalition has 49 legislators in the 81-member Assembly with 30 belonging to JMM followed by Congress with 18 and a lone member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Main opposition is BJP which has 26 MLAs.