Just when Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje thought she had set the stage for a very long innings with the granting of five per cent reservation to Gujjars, her past has come to haunt her.
Allegations against her liaisons with disgraced IPL czar Lalit Modi could snowball into a political crisis deep enough to rock her boat.
Modi was a parallel power centre during Raje’s previous stint as the chief minister. Officials had to get many a file vetted by the controversial businessman before it could be approved. He remained Raje’s confidant and family friend even as he left for Britain under a barrage of allegations of corruption related to the IPL.
Fissures appeared in the relation during the last assembly election. Raje kept away Modi from her circles.
Modi tried for a comeback from exile after the BJP-led NDA government rose to power at the centre. He opted to focus on what he knew best – cricket. He systematically lined up his loyal men to wrest control of most of the district cricket associations in Rajasthan. His aim was the post of the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association but he lost it between the cup and the lip.
He lashed back at the chief minister, saying she caused his defeat by influencing the district cricket associations. The former friends had turned bitter foes.
The enmity took centre stage when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj got embroiled in a controversy for helping out Modi. The tainted businessman tried to bail out Swaraj by revealing his affinity with Raje. Prime among his revelations was a letter the then opposition leader Raje wrote to the British government, supporting Modi’s request for immigration.
Details of Modi’s investment in a hotel chain run by Raje’s son Dushyant Singh also tumbled out. Modi had routed crores of rupees to Anand Heritage Hotels from a little-known investment company in Mauritius. Rs 4 crore was channelled as loan and Rs 8 crore as equity investment to Dushyant’s account. Modi bought shares in the hotel for Rs 96,180 while the actual price was just Rs 10.
Raje initially rejected the allegations but went on the defensive after documents started leaking out. The mother, the son and the BJP leaders repeatedly say that all transactions were legal and legitimate as they were done through bank.
If Raje resigns, many heads will roll. The BJP leadership goes slow on the matter as it does not yet want senior leaders like Sushma Swaraj go. In Rajasthan, the party does not have a strong leader to supplant Raje with.
But Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a difficult spot as the Congress steps up its pointed attacks against him related to corruption. The scandal has become a blot on his claims of clean governance. If anyone has to resign to save the party’s face and the government’s, the first would naturally be Raje. The Congress has smelled blood. The impressive win in the three-tier panchayat polls has given it the much-needed fillip.