Last week, BJP MP and chief minister Narendra Modi’s close associate Arun Jaitley spoke for ten minutes on how the Congress misuses the CBI for political benefits — bringing up cases against political leaders and promising to bury them for political support when they are in a tight spot. He was speaking at the town hall in Ahmedabad.
He pointed out instances of the Congress having “struck a deal” with RJD’s Lalu Prasad, BSP’s Mayawati and SP’s Mulayam Singh, to sail the UPA government through a tight spot and then renege.
Four days later, Lalu and Singh are crying hoarse that the BJP has struck a deal with the Congress for letting Narendra Modi off the hook in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, for the passing of the nuclear liability bill in the parliament. Ironically, this is exactly the point Jaitley was making last week.
“The Congress and the BJP have joined hands and entered into a deal, cheating the Muslim community. While the Congress will use the CBI to give a clean chit to Modi, the BJP will support it on the nuclear liability bill,” senior SP leader and leader of opposition in UP Vidhan Parishad, Ahmad Hasan, alleged on Thursday.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice on Thursday over the alleged deal. The allegations, however, have struck a raw nerve with members of the Gujarat Congress. “It is essentially bad news for us in the upcoming local body elections,” a senior functionary said.
But this is not the end, he asserts. “It is only interim relief for Modi at best; the battle is on. All skeletons will tumble out before the Assembly elections. There are other cases — like the 2002 riots cases in which Modi’s statement has already been taken. There are other encounter cases as well, in which the state’s complicity is glaringly obvious,” the leader said.
On Thursday, it was reported that the Supreme Court has directed that the statement of Modi, recorded by the SIT during the course of investigation, shall not be divulged to anyone except the trial court and the public prosecutor.
