Prime Minister Modi’s diehard followers on Social Media say the literal expansion of TMC to “Tu, Main Aur Corruption” is pure genius. And that “You, me and corruption” will fetch the BJP more Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal than Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would care to imagine. But, then, what about the “Mai” in the Modi-coined slogan? Ex-Supreme Court judge Joseph Kurian recently spoke of the media’s glaring failure to protect “democracy, Constitution and truth”.

Media should question the "Mai" and attempt to nail the “Mai". The ED, CBI and the IT Department spectacularly failed, why did the media, too? Media focus should have been on corrupt elements in all political parties, including in BJP dispensations. Corrupt politicians in opposition parties should have been media-investigated and marked as fodder for Modi government initiated ED/CBI action. It’s impossible to believe that politicians across the board are not of the same feather.

A Himanta Biswas Sarma in the Congress and a Himanta Biswa Sarma in the BJP cannot be different. And an Ajit Pawar of the sort in Maharashtra does fit in neatly in the “Tu, Mai Aur Corruption” shelf. The “Tu, Mai Aur Corruption” slogan will likely meet the fate of “Didi O Didi”, Sheikh Shahjahan or no Sheikh Shahjahan. People are getting their daily bread and, in West Bengal’s case, also fish in plenty thanks to the likes of Sheikh Shahjahan who fixed the fish trade, and how?

Another Sandeshkhali fallout has been Prime Minister Modi charging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with “using women of West Bengal as a vote-bank”. Now, that is not expected from a veteran election-campaigner of Modi's class. Did not Prime Minister Narendra Modi say that the BJP serves “four groups” of the electorate, among them also “women”, the “poor” and the “youth”. The last includes unemployed, underemployed and vagrant not to count the jobless Agniveer soon to flood the streets.

Modi can nurture and use women as the BJP’s vote-bank, but Mamata Banerjee cannot. The Bharatiya Janata Party has sunk deep roots with its show of anti-corruptionism. Isn’t it odd that even after a decade of Modi rule, corruption remains stuck in the Prime Minister’s craw like a crooked fishbone? Under two tenures of Modi-rule, the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation decided which politician to question and which one to arrest; and which one to let go with a ministerial berth to boot.

The Modi dispensation has frequently let go of politicians who were once cornered in "Tu, Mai Aur Corruption" and had then embraced the BJP "ideology". Himanta Biswa Sarma and Ajit Pawar were but two too many. Think also of Suvendu Adhikari and it's clear that “Tu, Mai Aur Corruption” is a brotherhood.

Modi's statement that the ‘TMC does not allow poor to take benefit of the Centre’s medical assistance initiative’ would have left its impact if only Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn't have to defend the indefensible Suvendu Adhikari and cover up the whiff of corruption emanating from tainted opposition leaders who quit their parties to join the "honest for nothing" Bharatiya Janata Party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the TMC stopped the people of West Bengal from taking the benefits of the Centre's R 5 lakh Ayushman Bharat health scheme and there have been allegations of "Tu, Mai Aur Corruption" dogging Ayushman Bharat, too. The Problem for Mamata Banerjee is that several Mamata ministers and Trinamool politicians are caught in cases of corruption.

The pictures of stacks of unearthed cash haven't helped Mamata Banerjee and her "honest to god" Trinamool Congress. Even Sheikh Shahjahan's in a soup because of the ration scam and the Enforcement Directorate going after him. For Trinamool Congress, escaping the "Tu, Mai Aur Corruption" charge is difficult considering the visual evidence available with the investigating agencies, the piled up cash in hard currency.

A couple of "Mood of the Nation" surveys aired in the last week suggest that the Trinamool Congress and the BJP are neck and neck and the second survey said the BJP will win "21". The BJP is confident of snaring "80" in Uttar Pradesh and cornering "40" in Bihar in Modi's quest for "370", but is also talking that there wouldn't be much of a difference in West Bengal, where because of the Mamata government's welfare schemes, the Modi government's "labarthi" schemes couldn't enter to leave an impact in the voters' minds.

Now with Modi's "Tu, Mai Aur Corruption" it is impossible to disregard that the Modi government cannot escape its own corrupt image. Corruption is not only stacks of unaccounted cash, it is also corrupt people and corrupt entities being given clean-chits and rehabilitation in choice ministries. “Tu, Mai Aur Corruption is not different from "Hamam Mein Sab Nange Hain and that includes the Emperor without clothes. A government which gives the corrupt refuge is also corrupt. Modi's "Tu, Mai Aur Corruption" makes people think. (IPA Service)