In case of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the issues became complex and even more serious. What is really inexcusable is that she decided to sign a statement of support for Lalit Modi’s continued stay in the UK with the express condition that her action should not come to the notice of her own government. At the time she did this, she held a Constitutional position as Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Added to this, there is increasing evidence that her action may have been influenced by what appears to be rather dubious monetary investments worth several crores of rupees made by Modi in her son’s company, and that she herself could have been beneficiary of such investment.

HRD Minister Smiriti Irani’s several versions of her educational qualifications in her own sworn affidavit to the Election Commission have been taken into cognizance by a court of law. In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shirvaj Singh Chouhan is increasingly facing the heat in the Vyapam recruitment scam; this scandal is assuming gigantic proportions. According to latest reports, at least ten persons, linked to the scam, were killed in “road accidents” and four more committed “suicide”. Court monitored investigation suspects an attempt to silence key players in the massive corruption scandal. Among these are students who allegedly cracked the pre-medical test by fraudulent means and a former dean of Jabalpur University, D K Sakalle, who died of burn injuries in his own home in what is still an unresolved case. When Sakalle died, he was in the midst of scrutinising documents of MBBS students who were under scanner.

During the UPA rule, the BJP was nothing short of hostility in pursuing its campaign against public immorality. Session after session of Parliament was stalled as it took its protest both to the streets and to Parliament. Now, the BJP is at the receiving end, and it can hardly expect the Opposition to be particularly decorous, restrained or forgiving. The BJP’s attempt to gloss over ‘Lalit-gate’ will not be easy. After Prime Minister Narendra Mdi took the high moral ground on fighting corruption, any move now to renege on his promise will not only dent his credibility but also cause the moral edifice of his campaign and the government to collapse.

What should really trouble the BJP is criticism of both oblique and direct kind coming from within its own parivar. Party patriarch, L K Advani, spoke of the present plight on the government. He talked at length on probity in public life, something that is clearly not being observed in public life, something that is not being observed in the case of Sushma Swaraj and Raje. To bring home the point, Advani referred to his own resignation when implicated in hawala scam. Then came the direct attack from RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya who said both ladies must resign forthwith.

Look what the BJP leaders said when their party was in opposition; leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha then, Swaraj observed that “not allowing Parliament to function is also like a form of democracy, like any other form”. Arun Jaitley, her counterpart in Rajya Sabha, justified disruption of Parliament. The problem in democracy is that what you say in one context comes back to haunt you in other. Now, the BJP is at the receiving end.

Ownership of Rajasthan’s Dholpur palace has become the latest political flash point in Vasundhara Raje-Lalit Modi saga. Congress claims that Raje, her son Dushant Singh, converted Dholpur palace — a state owned property — into a luxury property. BJP counters by saying that Dholpur palace was acquired by the government of India in 1952, but was given back to the Dholpur royal family in 1957. Congress alleges Rajasthan Chief Minister’s estranged husband Hemant Singh filed a court affidavit in 1980, saying the palace was “declared as owned by government”. BJP states that in an out-of-court settlement with Dushant in 2007, Singh accepted the palace as his property being given to Dushant.

According to the Congress, land records from 1977 and 2010 show the palace as “property of Government of Rajasthan”. BJP replies that Dholpur municipal records say the city palace is owned by Dushant Singh, a Lok Sabha member.

In all this, the silence of the Prime Minister is intriguing. For a man who is known to tweet on the most inconsequential things, his refusal to comment on the goings-on in his own party is most revealing. (IPA Service)