Wazegate, 100 Cr, phone tapping & political bhelpuri

@RavikiranRKD

How to deviate from a serious, sensational, mind-boggling issue and convert it into a political slugfest? Well, not much hair scratching is required. A simple look at the series of dramatic events, right from the explosives-laden vehicle, the mysterious death of Mansukh Hiren, dumbfounding letter written by ex-CP Param Bir Singh on extorting money to the phone tapping of political meddling on Police transfers, makes the entire picture clear.

The first news of an explosive-laden vehicle, found near business tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s palatial home, might have come like a Thunder ball but soon it began to turn into a political snowball. When the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was pushed into a corner and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could have scored politically, but thanks to fresh developments in a short period, the momentum was lost.

Today, it is more like a political bhelpuri- a concocted mixture of different angles and issues of which the climax is unlikely. Even before the mystery behind parking the vehicle near Antilia unravels, the reasons behind the killing of Mansukh Hiren came to light, the drama behind Param Bir Singh’s letter is known, a political slugfest has begun. The BJP could have shown some restraint by waiting for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to come out with a conclusion. But the party was in a hurry to achieve political gains and instead energy was utilized over the demand to sack Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.

It’s now for anybody to guess that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will not remove Anil Deshmukh from the cabinet nor will his portfolio be changed. Reason? The petition was filed by Param Bir Singh. The alacrity was shown by the ex-chief of Mumbai Police to file the petition before the Supreme Court (SC) came as a surprise as the NIA had just taken over the explosive’s case. Expectedly, the SC refused to hear the petition and instead suggested Singh approached the Bombay High Court (HC) asking why the petitioner was not making the Home Minister a respondent.

Also Read: Politics, reprisal and convenience!

When Singh filed a petition before Bombay HC making Deshmukh a respondent, how the NCP is going to disown him? Because any such a move will automatically weaken the government side and may send a signal that indeed the minister was responsible for the mess as alleged by the senior cop. To save Deshmukh the government will defend him with the required gusto and save itself. Most importantly, nobody can predict how long the hearings go on, and even after it is decided, the losing party may take it to the SC.

In such an event, only BJP leaders can tell us how they are going to score a political victory when their demand for the removal of Deshmukh is not going to achieve any positive result. Politically speaking, BJP has made several mistakes. When an API such as Sachin Waze was allowed to report to Singh directly, attended the alleged meetings at the Home Minister’s official residence, enjoyed unenviable freedom to probe some crucial cases, why the BJP has not raised any questions over it and instead preferred raising the issue of ex-CP’s letter to corner the Home Minister.

Things have gone awry and the ruling side has started raising several questions and the fresh one is about the DVR from the CP office. The Congress has asked as to who has removed the DVR, the BJP, on the other hand it has alleged that handkerchiefs found stuffed into Hiren’s mouth were missing.

Besides, a case has been filed on the data leak from the office of State DGP which contains a highly confidential report on the alleged political high-handedness in police transfers and the 6.5 GB pen drive containing details of phone tapping which the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis claimed he has with him. He submitted it along with the confidential documents to the Union Home Secretary demanding a CBI probe.

It’s a matter of intense curiosity as the state chief secretary has in its internal note submitted to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made it clear that the pen drive in question was not submitted along with the report. In this event, it will be interesting to see how the probe on the leak of the highly confidential report and the pen drive goes ahead. 

The question is who gave that pen drive to Fadnavis and whether he will reveal the name if asked by the probing agency? What would be the response by IPS Rashmi Shukla if she is asked to verify, authenticate the contents in the pen drive? All such things may come across in the future. Now that the case is registered with the Cyber Police it is difficult to predict how long the probing team will take to conclude the investigation and when the charge sheet will be filed.

The political one-upmanship might ensure the premature death of a raging issue of corruption in the Police department. The associations and federations of hotels and restaurant owners have not uttered a single word even as the former chief of Mumbai Police writes to the state CM on extortion and collection of Rs 100 crore per month.

They have not bothered to contest the claim of the Home Minister who has purportedly told an API to collect Rs 2 to 3 lakh each from the 1750 bars and restaurants. None of them has come forward to say how many of them are in a position to pay such an amount or not. If such associations or federations can make brouhaha over the government decisions of raising 1 or 2 per cent VAT or other duties why can’t they speak on such issues is the question.

Another important factor is why the investigating agencies are yet to question Param Bir Singh about his association with Sachin Waze, the decision to entrust with him some of the most crucial probes, the claim of the collection of Rs 100 crore. Another important aspect is whether Singh has secured permission to approach the court of law which is mandatory under the service rules.

For such questions, answers may not come either from the political class as well as the state administration. With the note of dismay, people will have to look for the other subjects to be entertained.