-Dr. Rahul Kumar
The Delhi unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), no doubt, is making all cunning efforts to win the forthcoming Municipal Corporation Delhi(MCD) elections in Delhi. The BJP Delhi unit chief, Manoj Tiwari, a popular Bhojpuri singer, is inviting & cajoling all disgruntled, tired, hopeless, disloyal and corrupt Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) party erstwhile leaders in the hope to strengthen the Delhi BJP unit. Such twinge of political empathy on behalf of the BJP Delhi unit reify the notion of corruption. A wise man rightly said: “Power attracts the corruptible”
From Satish Upadhya to Manoj Tiwari disparagingly declared the leaders of the Congress and AAP party are the corrupt one. From every public platform, the BJP local and national leaders do not get bored or tired while projecting the Gandhi family and dynasty the most corrupt. The majority of the BJP local and national leaders are not tired of even saying that the worst economic condition of the country today is because of the Gandhi family. During a television debate Mamta Kale, a BJP leader blamed the Congress party for all ills of the system. She also said the BJP needs time to correct the economic mess created in the last 70 years. Some economists rightly said, ‘the BJP must stop blaming the Congress because the BJP has already wasted the previous five years (2014-2019) ’. It is time to perform and generate employment. It is time to boost business. It is time to attract foreign investment.
Amit Shah removed Satish Upadhya, erstwhile Delhi BJP President on the charges of corruption, and appointed Manoj Tiwari in his place. Satish Upadhya`s involvement in alleged corruption was never defended by the BJP top leaders. Upadhya declared that the allegations leveled by the AAP are baseless and he would file a defamation case but till date, no such case was filed by Upadhya against the AAP. Satish Upadhya was actually a corrupt BJP leader who supplied electric meters to Anil Ambani controlled power utility BSES. The public will never see Satish Upadhya active in BJP politics. In order to save the face of the BJP Delhi unit, Amit Shah, former President of the BJP (2014-2019), currently, Home Minister, Government of India appointed Manoj Tiwari.
It is an open secret that the BJP has been using all-powerful government agencies such as CBI, ED, and Income Tax either to demoralize or weaken the leaders of the opposition political parties. Past records show that every political party does so when in power. The Delhi BJP unit till date was showing to the public at large that the BJP is a non-corrupt party, engaged in welfare activities of the people of Delhi wanted to make Delhi a world-class city devoid of corruption. The BJP Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari is not tired of talking about the development of Delhi if the party comes to power. Manoj Tiwari and other BJP leaders seem to be conveniently comfortable in the company of corrupt people.
Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the BJP Delhi unit but left after a few months when he found that the local BJP leaders would not accept him at any cost. Lovely again was accepted by the congress but as a congress worker under Ajay Makhan, former President of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC). Recently, expelled from congress Barkha Singh joins BJP Delhi unit. Later, Kapil Mishra expelled from AAP joins the BJP. Barkha Singh enjoyed all the fruits of plum post doled by the Congress under deceased Sheila Dixit. She was made Chairman of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) by the Congress party. Barkha Singh during his election campaigning days used to call the BJP the most corrupt party. Voters of Delhi deserve to reject such political shamefacedness & emptiness.
A keen political observer on the condition of anonymity revealed, Barkha Singh erstwhile MLA has amassed wealth through corrupt means. For the last few years, she and her husband have been getting notices from the Income Tax department owning to which she is mentally worried and depressed. Had she not joined the BJP she would have been in jail. She has nothing to do with the people of Delhi. At this time, she has to save herself and her family from political and social ignominy. Arvinder Singh Lovely owns a number of private schools. He holds lion share in the management of reputed private schools in Delhi. He was also harassed and humiliated by the Income Tax Department for amassing wealth beyond his known source of income.
Disgruntled, thoroughly corrupt, decadent spiritless Congress and AAP political party leaders will never benefit the Delhi BJP Unit. Rather, they will cause callous damage to the electoral prospects of the BJP Delhi unit especially the Chief Manoj Tiwari. Choosing and embracing corrupt leaders from other opposition parties do not give a certificate to the BJP to validate their democratic process of which the BJP local and national leaders are bragging.
People of Delhi are not ignoramus who can be befooled easily. Had the BJP sent these corrupt people to the jail, the electoral prospects of Delhi BJP unit would have far better. By embracing the corrupt people the BJP Delhi unit is to going betray the aspirations of the people of Delhi. With what face Manoj Tiwari as a President of Delhi BJP Unit will introduce these corrupt leaders to the people of Delhi? Lily-livered Barkha Singh has no leadership qualities. She has no deep knowledge of Delhi. She was simply in the congress and won plum posts at the mercy of the Gandhi family. She was in good books of deceased Shiela Dixit, former Chief Minister of Delhi. The leaders devoid of any leadership qualities flourished at the mercy of Gandhi Family have no use for the BJP. Manoj Tiwari must remember that the corrupt leader’s belonging to any political party are not “Christmas Tree” for the BJP Delhi unit.
Dr. Rahul Kumar, Ph.D. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. India. He is an independent researcher and senior media columnist. His book on “Elderly Punjabis in India Diaspora” traces trajectories of Elderly Punjabi migration to U.K. He is a member of the Editorial Committee of Global Research Forum for Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT) New Delhi. India. The views expressed by the author in this article are personal and does not necessarily reflect the official policy of the paper.
