BJP raids all its rivals

The CBI has launched a veritable blitzkrieg against the family of Lalu Prasad Yadav. This is a process, which has gone on for the past few weeks and its end is not in sight. Members of the family in politics have been “raided”, to use the CBI jargon. Further, a case has been lodged against Mr Tejaswi Yadav, Bihar’s deputy Chief Minister, prompting demands from the BJP that chief minister Nitish Kumar removed him from the council of ministers. If that happens, and the RJD withdraws support, the Nitish Kumar government will fall unless the BJP props it up. This is the evident calculation.

Those facing criminal prosecution ought not to be part of the government. In pressing the demand, the BJP is on a weak wicket, however. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not dropped from his government individuals facing prosecution, including the high-profile Uma Bharti. Studies of legislators’ fortunes show that politics in India has been an avenue of accumulating vast sums of ill-gotten wealth. No party is corruption-free. There has never been a clean-up act by any government, and we are not seeing one now, whatever the Modi government’s claims.

Those in power at the Centre have typically unleashed the CBI to make rivals fall in line, usually not to vote against them or challenge certain policies. The difference today is that the BJP regime is targeting its rivals in every corner of India. The Yadav clan of Bihar is not the only one. A prominent TV channel was also “raided”, presumably for not tailoring journalism to be supportive. There are no “raids” against politicians of the NDA parties.