Post Date: Post Date – 12:37 AM, Tuesday – Nov 8
The central government led by the BJP, which is so keen on reform, has not made any worthwhile reforms to the anti-defection law.
JR Janumpalli
Moinabad Farmhouse’s revelation of the political horse trade is a revelation that should shock us all. It preempts these earlier events. Here, the plan for each MLA is Rs 50-10 crore, maybe 30 or more MLAs. If it succeeds, it will overthrow the TRS government in Telangana.
In the exposure, it was revealed that it took place in eight states and involved tens of thousands of rupees. The TRS counter-attack exposed these details in sensational fashion. Such an extraordinary exposure could have serious ramifications for the country’s politics.
As usual, as is customary in Indian politics, opinions were mixed in this episode. Some call it a farce or a novel, others a drama. Some argue that politicians who expose it themselves are not paragons of virtue. Therefore, this is not as sensational an event as one might imagine. But the fact is, the incident happened and it was brought to the High Court, which brought certain lawsuits against the actors involved. The case is pending.
Telangana turf war
Horse trade only develops in the country. Lax anti-defection laws and their authorities’ political interpretation of partisanship don’t help. The current central government is keen on so many reforms without bringing about any worthwhile reforms. Instead, amendments such as removing caps on donations to political parties and auditing them, as well as new electoral bonds, have increased the flow of money into the coffers of ruling parties.
The BJP is said to be the biggest beneficiary of anonymous political donations to election bonds. It is also said that the BJP is the richest party in the country, accounting for more than 70% of the assets of the main parties. This, along with a strong desire for the BJP to expand across India, has led to an unprecedented increase in the horse trade.
Against this backdrop, Moinabad’s revelation is not surprising. The BJP has been engaged in a bitter turf war in Telangana for the past two years and is using all means to steal the TRS limelight in the state. GHMC and some by-elections were used to increase its voting share. It also used other political and economic tactics against the TRS government. It includes an economic siege of the country, withholding regular funds, and no additional financial help to the center. It found flaws in the plans it had approved and appreciated earlier and tried to block them, thereby causing deliberate financial stress on the country.
The latest was foisting of Munugode by-election on the TRS to corner it and win the election by any means and show that the TRS is losing its ground in the State before the coming general elections. This by-election is a BJP predatory A classic example of politics. In this bizarre episode, K Rajgopal Reddy was introduced to the BJP and forced to resign from Congress and make a by-election as an MLA. He then became the BJP candidate in the by-election. The price for the entire process is a contract worth Rs 18,000 crore for the Chandragupta coal mine in Jharkhand.
mining corruption
The Chandragupta open pit coal mine operated by Central Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, was awarded to Adani Enterprises Ltd for around Rs 28,000 crore in a global tender in December 2020. But for reasons best known to the government, a second national tender was called for in February 2021, and the first was cancelled. This time, Adani also participated. But Shashi Infra, which belongs to Rajgopal Reddy, only got the contract for Rs 18,264 crore. It is understood that many bidding conditions and other regulations were changed to make ineligible Shashi infrastructure eligible for the contract, in violation of established norms. The company’s experience is in construction, road works, water, etc., and its mining experience is said to be only 0.88%.
Rajgopal Reddy’s strategy looks like a perfect quid pro quo here. In the 2G spectrum case, the BJP was the main election beneficiary, which was said to be a nominal loss to the country. This is a direct actual loss of Rs 8,000 crore. Rajgopal Reddy revealed the relationship between the contract and his public bid to become a BJP candidate during the campaign. It was also complained to the CEC. But as expected, no action was taken.
Therefore, the predatory politics of the BJP, spending crores of illegal money toppling the legitimately elected State governments should not be taken lightly. The TRS’ victory in Munugode to reject electoral fraud strongly backed it. Telangana shows the way!
(The author is a freelance journalist)
