Because the BJP is fighting corruption, “all corrupt faces are uniting on one platform.”Prime Minister Narendra Modi used this as his opening last week to criticise opposition parties for supporting Rahul Gandhi’s exclusion from the Lok Sabha.
BJP on Sunday formally launched an online video campaign on alleged corruption during Congress rule, four days after Modi’s speech at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi. The first episode, titled “Congress Means Corruption,” opened with the claim that “Congress has looted Rs 48,20,69,00,00 from the public in 70 years of its rule.” At the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) diamond jubilee festivities on Monday, the prime minister emphasised the anti-corruption message and referred to corruption as the largest obstacle to democracy and justice.
This emphasis on the fight against corruption comes at a time when Rahul Gandhi claims that his expulsion from the Lok Sabha is an attempt to silence him for raising concerns about the alleged connections between industrialist Gautam Adani and the PM, as well as when the BJP is engaged in what appears to be a difficult battle with the Congress in Karnataka. Due to the opposition’s demands for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the Adani issue and demonstrations against Rahul’s disqualification, as well as the ruling party’s demands for Rahul to apologise for remarks he recently made about the state of India in the UK, the current session of Parliament is on the verge of being called off.
As it has been under fire in Karnataka due to allegations of impropriety since last year, the BJP must do everything in its power to distance itself from corruption.K S Eshwarappa, a prominent party leader, left the government last year after being charged with accepting a bribe to pay off unpaid bills. After a contractor committed suicide in April 2022, the allegations against him surfaced. The BJP leader was later cleared by the police.In the same month, Dingaleshwara Swami of the Balehosur Mutt, a prominent Lingayat religious figure, said that government representatives had requested a 30% commission from mutts in order to disburse funding.
The Karnataka BJP was beset with corruption allegations at a time when prominent party figures, including Federal Home Minister Amit Shah, made promises about an anti-corruption administration in the state. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai claimed on Monday that the Congress utilised contractors to make accusations against the ruling party but failed to file any paperwork with the court or provide any supporting evidence in an effort to contain the situation and change the narrative.