Four MLAs of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) recently alleged that the BJP attempted to bribe them to join the saffron party in Telangana. The list of states which have gone into the saffron party’s kitty through this shameful strategy is long: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, and Puducherry. The party’s central leadership owes an explanation to the people about the huge bribe – Rs 100 crore to each of the four TRS MLAs – sought to be offered by the BJP agents who were arrested by the police from a farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
This is a brazen misuse of power and illegitimate use of money and flies in the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party colleagues, who often parrot homilies about probity in public life. The three BJP agents who were arrested by the Cyberabad police had allegedly threatened the legislators with ED and CBI raids if they did not join the BJP. It clearly fits into a pattern where the BJP has systematically weaponised the central investigating agencies to relentlessly go after the opposition leaders.
There is a clear and systematic pattern of using probe agencies like the Enforcement Directorate to muzzle the voice of the opposition and intimidate them into submission. The allegations of disproportionate assets and the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) violations are among the most common charges slapped on the opposition politicians. But those who defect to the saffron party earn complete immunity and get to sleep soundly.