Is the BJP playing a dangerous game?

By blowing hot and cold with both DMK and AIADMK, is BJP playing with fire?

By blowing hot and cold with both DMK and AIADMK, is BJP playing with fire?
By blowing hot and cold with both DMK and AIADMK, is BJP playing with fire?

The 2G judgment that was handed down by Judge OP Saini is wrong at so many levels that I am not going to dwell on it. But I do see some parallels between this and what happened earlier in the Jayalalithaa Disproportionate Assets case that I would like to draw your attention to –

Jayalalithaa Disproportionate Assets Case

  1. On September 27, 2014, J Jayalalithaa (JJ) the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and three others were convicted of possessing Disproportionate Assets and fined Rs. 100 crores. The four sought bail and it was granted on October 17, 2014 with several restrictions.
  2. On January 18, 2015, the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visited Jayalalithaa at her home[1], which raised several eyebrows. Here was a convicted person, appealing her conviction in a higher court and a leading member of the Cabinet pays her a visit! For what one can only assume…
  3. The case went to appeal in Karnataka High Court and on May 11, 2015, the High Court set aside the lower court judgment and all four were set free.
  4. Elections were declared in Tamil Nadu for the State Assembly on May 16, 2016. It was expected that the BJP would get into a coalition with the AIADMK but nothing of that sort happened. Worse, BJP went it alone and managed to lose the deposit in 230 of the 232 seats that they contested[2].
  5. The Karnataka Government appealed the High Court judgment in the Supreme Court and on February 15, 2017, the Supreme Court overturned the HC judgment and convicted all. By this time JJ had passed away.

Fast Forward to the Present – The 2G Spectrum Scam

  1. On February 2, 2012, the Supreme Court cancels all 122 licenses given for the 2G Spectrum and constitutes as 2G Special Court, with OP Saini as the judge[3]. The Special Court was to go into details of the charge sheet filed by the CBI in April 2011. The first task Saini is given is to rule if P Chidambaram, the then Home Minister should also be charged (as he was part of the decision making process in allotting 2G licenses, according to the petitioner Subramanian Swamy).
  2. On February 4, 2012, Judge Saini dismisses Swamy’s request to charge Chidambaram.
  3. On February 2, 2017, the Maran brothers were acquitted in their role of allegedly trying to coerce Aircel promoter C Sivasankaran to sell his stake to Malaysia based Maxis, by the 2G Special Court[4]. The judge? OP Saini.
  4. On November 6, 2017, Narendra Modi meets Muthuvel Karunanidhi, the ailing chief of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which set off a lot of speculations[5]. The Government had just raided around 187 premises linked to AIADMK leaders.
  5. The 2G Special Court was to have delivered its judgment on Oct 25, 2017. On that day, the court said that it needed some more time and that the judgment would be delivered on November 7, 2017. Come November and the judge puts it off until December 5, 2017. In the meantime Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh went to polls.
  6. On December 5th, the judge said that he needed some more time to write the judgment and gave a final date of December 21, 2017. And that was yesterday, when the Court freed all the accused of all charges. These are the facts of the matter.

Questions

  1. Was it good optics on part of the Prime Minister to meet the father and husband of 2G accused persons? (Kanimozhi and Dayalu Ammal)
  2. Is there an electoral understanding between the BJP and the DMK in the making for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls? Or is AIADMK being softened up so BJP can have the luxury of choosing between Tweedledum and Tweedledee?

You can put your own questions via Twitter to @SreeIyer1 or write in a comment. We will add the 5 best questions posed into this post along with your name.

References:

[1] Jaitley drops in on JayalalithaaJan 18, 2015, The Hindu

[2] TN Polls: Results show BJP has still not made any inroads in the stateMay 19, 2016, Scroll.in

[3] 2G Scam: SC scraps 122 licenses, trial court to decide on Chidambaram’s roleFeb 2, 2012, The Times of India

[4] No case against Kalanithi Maran, misreading of files led to Aircel-Maxis probeFeb 2, 2017, Indian Express

[5] Why did Modi meet Karunanidhi? Nov 17, 2017, Rediff.com

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An inventor and out-of-the-box thinker, Sree Iyer has 37 patents in the areas of Hardware, Software, Encryption and Systems.

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37 COMMENTS

  1. One must understand the enormity of PM Modijis task.A good lot of BJP mps,mlas in states and a huge no of IAS and IPS officers in key govt postsare currupt and enjoyed the ill gotten perks of office all along .They are all trying to sabotage Modis govt for their own selfish ends.Our PM has to fight all these people also along with opposition. These are the forces between Modiji and people trying to see that he fails.It is in our,common man’s interest to elect BJP so that Modi can slowly get rid of curruption and it is an arduous task.If we are not electing Modiji and his got we are the losers.

  2. I think both judgement as well as prosecution have been clever and some who don’t agree with me will say extremely devious and crooked,,I hope higher courts give a fitting judgement not only to crooks of 2G by sending them to jail but also expose shenanigans bluntly that come out of 2G court judgement

  3. Pelf and power only rule the nation.common man loosen the hope of our rilling style.recently we put the faith on BJP. Any how everything is failed. If the nota is more what will be the result.

  4. BJP wishes to have their hold at Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and so Cabinet ministers of BJP meets certain high officials of the above mentioned states to know their thinking and moves, I am sure with Narendra Modi’s vision and directions and Amit shah’s professional efforts will certainly get success in all ways.

    This comment dated 24-12-2017.

  5. Postponement of judgement for 2G was a good move. Congis would have jumped up and down in joy and made it as an election rhetoric before Gujarat and Himachal

    As far as 2G acquittal is concerned, it is obvious that BJP wants to open an account in TN. But at the same time 2G scam would go to higher courts. It could be used as a bargaining chip against DMK. People in TN could vote for other parties this time including Kamal Hassan and Rajini Kanth’s parties. In that case, votes are going to be split and DMK may not even get a simple majority. So, BJP wants to keep all its options open.

    Justice for 2G scam is just delayed. it is not going anywhere.

  6. even though this article gives an impression that Court verdicts r easily managed and r being manipulated by the BJP for playing a political game of entry into the TN Politics.
    this [Court’s manipulation] may b a debatable issue
    but there is no doubt that BJP has yet to make any inroads into the TN politics and with both major players out, the BJP can encash the vacuum in the political arena
    DMK and AIADMK both would like to keep the BJP out, to have their own pastures safe, unlike Nitish Kumar, who has brought for himself some safety.
    all the DMK and AIADMK leaders r facing some charges or the other, including TTVD n Chinamma.
    the BJP would do well to make Dr.SSwamy the head of TN BJP, but the equation Dr. Swamy has with Mr. Jaitley, it is most unlikely that he will b given that position.

    • All Politicians hv parameters to achieve their goals & they indulge in no holds barred battles.The problem in Nation is Corrupt, Incompetent & insensitive public servants who rather than solve problems create them to fleece public . Net outcome is Black Money, unwarranted torture of public and huge pile of increasing pending court cases . Corruption must be tackled effectively with swift stern exemplary punishment to culprits, to speed up Nation rise to top of World under efficient PM & TEAM.

  7. While I can understand the anguish felt by public in this forum, blaming Modi and BJP for the ills is getting to funnier levels. The constitution splits branches of government in to executive, legislative and judiciary. Each one of them have their own responsibility and 2G was the responsibility of judiciary which it failed. The only thing government can do here is to appeal the judgment in higher court.

    The reality that public has to see is not for nothing Congressis have been in power for 60 years. They have planted their moles in every nook and cranny including media and judiciary. The only way you can break the eco system is to deny them power for long periods of time. For starters next 20 years of congress mukt bharat will help.

    What’s wrong with Modi meeting karunanidhi or Jayalalithaa. You can say all you want but public still votes for admk, karunanidhi and Lalu etc. as incumbent politician in power Modi should and will keep all his options open

    • All Politicians hv parameters to achieve their goals & they indulge in no holds barred battles.The problem in Nation is Corrupt, Incompetent & insensitive public servants who rather than solve problems create them to fleece public . Net outcome is Black Money, unwarranted torture of public and huge pile of increasing pending court cases . Corruption must be tackled effectively with swift stern exemplary punishment to culprits, to speed up Nation rise to top of World under efficient PM & TEAM.

  8. Request any suggestion by PGURUS to approach Supreme Court & protest strongly against 2G scam judgment. Will contribute – physically, monetarily, mentally, time, energy, scripting, drafting, …etc.

  9. BJP leadership is directionless & its ministers are corrupt. Jaitely is no different from Kapil Sibal. NOT yet seen one central minister who can speak on his own ministry & what agenda of reforms he is carrying. BJP is also fooling like Khangress to get votes & win elections. There is no justice in the country. Govt is in deep slumber with no noticeable spoken or advertised policies. It is now 3+ years, yet nothing happened in any of the scams nor ever seen any action against any Babudom. Infact Babudom are enjoying more in BJP govt with no activity i.e. simply sitting & monthly getting.
    This govt has totally failed even to take help from the sincere & honest citizens. Infact it has punished sincere & honest people (Ashok Khemka is a sample case.)
    Jaitely himself is very corrupt & protecting corrupt businessmen
    Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Pratap Rudy, what are they doing none knows, what is their contribution in the governance is nil. There is so mess in telecom sector that in Chennai / Tamilnadu local calls do not go connected. Airtel is worst. Vodafone or Aircel are another third class providers. There is no quality but BJP govt is busy with RAM mandir.

  10. Though it looks like bjp tries to keep two parties n opposition guessing about n finger crossed n confused so that they come out with all sorts of imaginations in public we feel certain that bjp will weigh all equations before jumping into any wagon. A moment may come bjp would spring a surprise considering its acumen in political games. But a word of caution from public to bjp is need of the hour.

  11. Who says BJP is a corruption free party. It is not. How is Gadkari, late Mahajan who made money and gave to
    the party ( hismurder by his brother must be reopened_. What if visited Muthuvell. Does it mean he entered
    into secret pacr and asked Om Prskash Saini he is not from minority community to free Raja and Others. What
    are you talking. ou Bhakts always talk whether Congress is in power or BJP/ Are you in your senses. Mdi
    cannot visit an old man who is in the departure lounge of his life. I dont Gurumoorthys paper comes out with all weird ideas.l

  12. The biggest mistake BJP would make is teaming up with corrupt parties n bringing in corrupt politicians from the ranks of historically corrupt parties.Even though at the state level there is heavy corruption in BJP ruled state as the BJP manifesto of a corruption free country is not trickled down upto the grass root Municipal and Panchayat levels.
    BJP lost Punjab as they did not get rid of the Akalis who were embroiled in heavy corruption n drug peddling charges.BJP should have withdrawn support on moral grounds in Punjab n should have gone solo with clean new faces riding on the PMs popularity.Same should be done in TN,Karnataka and Other poll bound states.
    In any case the vote catcher is the PM and people vote the BJP due to him only.
    Tie up with either of the ruthlessly corrupt Dravidian outfits would be a major disaster like what they plan to do with the corrupt Narayan Rane in Maharashtra.

  13. Meeting wrong person at the right time is wrong signal to the nation and still worse for the people and the country and coincides with keeping not the right person to catch the wrong person and doers, which is neither morally correct nor politically sound

  14. Verdict by Judge Saini is no doubt disgusting But we saw it coming as narrated here The only fault would be that Rajnath Singh Or maybe Ravishankar Prasad should have taken it more seriously.They had all the time to remedy the situation from Feb 2017 onwards. But attributing this to Prime Minister meeting M Karunanidhi at a time when he is seriously ill is too far fetched & definitely not fair. If everything is looked at in the prism of Politics then we are not sane. Sri Narendra Modi definitely is not a shortsighted or petty politician of the Congress mould-Scheming, Plotting, Planning,ditching etc He is definitely a straight forward person. Infact I will even go to the extent of saying that even if he had that idea; He would do it boldly with a 56? Chest but not clandestinely or surreptitiously. This isn’t his character. Further DMK has only 4 members in RS where as AIADMK has 37 in Lok Sabha & 12 in Rajya Sabha. Politics doesn’t work on a 5 yrs Plan. Also if in the next 1 yr something dramatic or drastic like the surgical strike happens people will become emotive. This includes a smooth settlement of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Hence I feel sorry for those who spend their midnight oil with such wild allegations. With a powerful cadre like the RSS & Also with experienced Adhikaris I don’t think we need to give credence to these utopian confabulations.

  15. Quite true.there are no field observers or symphathysors at village level because of an untrue image of the BJP in the minds of down trodden.both Dravidian parties have spread cinematism and freebies to attract people
    Right thinking persons are away in their places unconnected for the good job of BJP.will the concerned look into this

  16. In the very first place, the agency’s officers probing into the case should be changed or if not so the centre should play an active role.
    Subramanian Swamy, the best option for the post of Finanace Minister be given the charge of the case.
    And third PM Modi should himself to clarify the suspicions arising.

  17. Mr Iyer,
    Writing is on the wall. It’s not very far, we learn the real meaning of democracy “Of the Politicians, by the Politicians, for the Politicians”. Megalomaniac Mind too is Corrupted. We miss this as commoners.
    Antony Trackfinder
    @yesudasantony

  18. Dear MR iyer, why not consider sending online petition to CJI, by the citizens opposing the 2G judgement given by the special court??

  19. Good question. The Modi government should look strongly into 2G case.

    Congress is trying to sell lower court decision as if no scam has happened. Its same as if saying that no murder has happened to Aysuhi Talvar, as no accused has been found out.

    • Online petitions are like candle burning protests, candles will burn, if you continue, your hands will burn. Things will remain there only. It is a photo opportunity only.

    • BJP seems to have supported the judgement & is enjoying the extended support to Khangress. Both are criminals assisting each other.

  20. Whatever might have happened in the past, BJP should not be seen as a power hungry party to ally with the AIADMK or the DMK in Tamilnadu. Both are equally corrupt . BJP’s image has suffered in quick succession , by the Gujarat verdict and the 2G verdict, though no one from the party would openly admit it. It will be more honourable to go alone and suffer an electoral washout in TN in 2019 than hobnobbing with any of the two major dravidian parties.

    • I totally agree…
      Bjp had the image of a corruption free party but their links and help to both Dravidian parties have raised many people’s eyebrows….
      Though clean as it claims, bjp is now tainted with the mud of the Dravidian parties by linking it with these two…
      I really wish bjp stands on its own…be it defeat or win, with promises of good governance in tamilnadu….
      Nobody pressurized bjp to form a government in tamilnadu immediately…
      Be neutral to both parties , stop corruption….

      (I guess even bjp wouldn’t have expected but such a verdict… As you can see Saini (a minority) and Congress together would have played in this …. Just that it was a mistake of modi to go and visit karuna… I don’t really understand why bjp tamilnadu doesn’t understand the pulse of people…. they could have warned modi ji not to take such a step especially with DMK which is a full corrupt party)

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