India
CBI and ED are probing the Congress leaders like former home and finance minister P Chidambaram, Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora, ex-chief minister of Haryana BS Hooda involved in different scams. Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram are allegedly involved in Aircel-Maxis deal
Mahagathbandhan, which will be on one side against the BJP in the upcoming general elections, is full of leaders facing serious corruption allegations. Almost all the parties of the Mahagathbandhan are under the scanner of the central investigating agencies, mainly the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The top leaders of the Congress to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Trinamool Congress (TMC) to Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) are allegedly involved in various scams.
Some leaders representing these parties have already been charge sheeted by the central investigation agencies and some are still facing investigation. Though, all parties claim that the BJP is using investigating agencies for arm-twisting only as cases are falling flat in courts.
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The timing of raids or any development in the cases related to the leaders of different parties always remain in question. But the truth is, the big faces of Mahagathbandhan are facing probe in multi-crore scams.
CBI and ED are probing the Congress leaders like former home and finance minister P Chidambaram, Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora, ex-chief minister of Haryana BS Hooda involved in different scams. Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram are allegedly involved in Aircel-Maxis deal. According to the allegations against the accused No 1 — Chidambaram, Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which was headed by him allegedly gave clearance to INX Media illegally to receive foreign funds of Rs 305 crore when he was the finance minister.
Also, Patel is facing allegations in AgustaWestland chopper deal, while Vora is allegedly involved in Haryana land deal involving the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and Hooda is facing allegations of twisting and relaxing rules for land allotments from 2004 to 2007.
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Another party in the Mahagathbandhan, the RJD, whose main face has already been convicted by the court and is currently in jail - Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family are facing corruption allegations in the IRCTC case. This case was also in the news in the recent CBI vs CBI controversy as some officers of the CBI were allegedly trying to favour Lalu’s family. ED and CBI have already filed charge sheet in the case against Lalu, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav. The family is facing multiple allegations while the head of the family is running the party from jail.
Similarly, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s party — TMC leaders are also facing probe from central agencies. The TMC’s two senior leaders Subroto Mukherjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar are allegedly involved in Narada scam. Also, last week, film producer and distributor Shrikant Mohta, whose closeness with Mamata is no secret, was arrested by the CBI in the Rose Valley scam. Interestingly, just after his arrest, the TMC leader came out and launched an attack on the BJP while defending him.
Not just that, even Madan Mitra, a senior leader of the party and former minister was arrested soon after the Narendra Modi came to power. In fact, during his interrogation, he named four members of Lok Sabha that led the agencies to probe further. In fact, in the Narada scam that is both being probed by the CBI and the ED, a video film was shot in 2014 from a hidden camera that showed at least 11 TMC leaders — Sougato Roy, Kakoli Ghoshdastidar, Prasun Banerjee, Sultan Ahmed, Mukul Roy, Aparupa Poddar, Subhendu Adhikary, Subhendu Adhikary, Sovan Chatterjee, Madan Mitra, Subroto Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, Iqbal Ahmed accepting wads of currency notes in exchange for a promise to 'get things done'.
The Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is facing the heat in Uttar Pradesh mining scam. According to the CBI, the role of Akhilesh is also under the scanner as he also had the portfolio of mining ministry when lands were given by avoiding rules to favour few private persons. The case has been registered on the order of the Allahabad high court. The CBI claims that 14 tenders were cleared by Akhilesh which were cancelled by the high court.
BSP chief Mayawati is under the scanner of CBI as well as the Income Tax Department. Her role in 1,179 crore Sugar mills scam is being investigated by the CBI. According to the allegations, 21 state-owned sugar mills in 2010-11 caused a loss of Rs 1,179 crore. Naseemuddin Siddiqui, close aide of Mayawati and minister in her government will be probed by the CBI. He had claimed that after getting instructions from Mayawati and the BSP general secretary and No 2 in the party, Satish Chandra Mishra, sugar mills were sold. It is expected that the CBI may also probe Mayawati’s role in the case. Mayawati is already under the scanner of the I-T department after the tax agency caught her brother Anand Kumar’s profit which increased exponentially when Mayawati was Uttar Pradesh chief minister. Her brother reportedly made 18,000% profit in seven years.
The AAP president Arvind Kejriwal and his top leaders are facing various allegations but some of them are being probed by the central investigating agencies. The CBI is probing AAP No 2 and Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, and Satyendra Jain, currently responsible for the health ministry of NCT, in two different cases. Sisodia has been questioned by the CBI in Talk to AK scheme after receiving a complaint from the vigilance department. According to the allegations, rules and regulations were violated in awarding the contract. On the other side, Jain is facing allegations of hawala trading.
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