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POLITICS
The Great Crossover: Opposition Leaders Who Joined
the BJP After Action by Central Agencies
Sukanya Shantha
Feb 21, 2024
The BJP has been accused of being a "washing machine" where any
opposition leader facing criminal charges is accepted and the
investigation against them by central agencies stops.

Photo: Bhavana Gawali, Pratap Sarnaik, Hasan Mushrif, Ajit Pawar, Yamini Jadhav, Chhagan
Bhujbal, Ashok Chavan. Illustration: Canva

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Mumbai: A week ago, addressing a press conference in Mumbai, the

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Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh
Editor's Pick Chennithala said the
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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a “washing machine” and any
opposition leader facing an investigation by central agencies like the
Enforcement
HOME Directorate
POLITICS ECONOMY(ED) or the Central
WORLD Bureau of
SECURITY LAWInvestigation
SCIENCE SOCIETY CULTURE EDITO
(CBI) – and willing to hop over to the other side – is readily accepted
in the BJP. Similarly, in Karnataka, chief minister Siddaramaiah called
the central agencies “BJP’s affiliates” and Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge called the agencies “BJP’s jawans”.

What Chennithala, Siddaramaiah or Kharge said is not new.

These coinages have gained wide popularity in the recent years, as

many leaders from the opposition have jumped ship and joined either
the BJP or its ally parties fearing adverse action against them.

The Wire has put together a state-wise list of politicians who have
joined the BJP in the past several months while facing criminal charges
by the central agencies.

This is not a comprehensive list; in fact, even as we put it together,

many leaders from the opposition camp might actually be on their way
to a nearby BJP office.

Maharashtra

Bhavana Gawali: In 2020, the ED accused Gawali, the member of

parliament from Yavatmal-Washim constituency in Maharashtra, of
alleged misappropriation of Rs 7 crore from a public trust, Mahila
Utkarsha Pratisthan, where Gawali was chairperson.

A few months later, the ED arrested her close aide, Saeed Khan. In late
2021 and 2022, Gawali was summoned multiple times to the ED office
for an inquiry. Meanwhile, the ED filed a chargesheet in the case and
named five persons. The public trust linked to Gawali was also
mentioned in the ED chargesheet.

In July 2022, however, Gawali decided to join the Eknath Shinde-led

Shiv Sena faction. She was soon announced the party’s chief whip in
the Lok Sabha.

The ED case? There have been no developments since then. Neither

has the ED filed a supplementary chargesheet nor has Gawali been
summoned for further inquiries.

Pratap Sarnaik: In June 2021, while still with the Uddhav Thackeray-
led Shiv Sena, Sarnaik had written to Thackeray asking him to patch
things up with the BJP. “This will save the party of the harassment by
central investigation agencies,” the Ovala-Majiwada constituency MLA
had claimed in the letter.

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Sarnaik and his family, at that time, were facing an ED investigation in
connection with the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) scam
worth Rs
HOME 5,600 crore.
POLITICS The ED had
ECONOMY questioned
WORLD him andLAW
SECURITY had also taken
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into possession 112 plots belonging to his firm.

In June 2022, as Eknath Shinde decided to rebel against the Thackeray

camp and join hands with the BJP, Sarnaik was one of the first ones to
jump ship.

Interestingly, this case was first handled by the state Economic

Offences Wing (EOW) which had filed a closure report while
Thackeray was the state chief minister. But the ED had eventually
taken over the case. Once Sarnaik went along with the Shinde faction,
the ED, as expected, slowed its investigation down.

Hasan Mushrif: In March 2023, the ED conducted searches at

Mushrif’s residence and offices in Mumbai and Kolhapur in connection
with an alleged money laundering case. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had
alleged that Mushrif had misappropriated funds in the Sar Senapati
Santaji Ghorpade Sugar Mill, Appasaheb Nalwade Gadhinlaj Taluka
Cooperative Sugar Mill and the running of the Kolhapur District
Central Cooperative Bank, of which Mushrif is the chairman.

Musrif had to move the court which granted him interim relief but his
arrest seemed inevitable at that time. But in July 2023, as Ajit Pawar
decided to break the National Congress Party (NCP) party and join
hands with the BJP, Musrif went too. Since then, there has been no
news on any further investigation or raids at his residence. The case,
however, is pending in the court.

Yamini Jadhav: A prominent Sena MLA and wife of former chairman

of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s Standing
Committee Yashwant Jadhav too has been facing ED charges in an
alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations case. In
April 2022, the IT department attached 41 properties belonging to the
couple and the ED summoned both her and her husband for inquiry.
Later, Jadhav joined the Shinde camp and things have since been quiet
for the couple. In July 2022, when Jadhav registered her head count for
the Speaker’s election in the assembly as an MLA belonging to the
Shinde camp, the members on the opposition benches shouted “ED,
ED”, referring to the reasons for her and many other party members’
decision to quit the Thackeray faction.

Chhagan Bhujbal: A senior NCP leader and a strong OBC face in

Maharashtra, Bhujbal decided to switch sides and go with the Ajit
Pawar-led NCP. Bhujbal has been facing inquiries in the alleged
irregularities in awarding of contracts of over Rs 100 crore for three
projects in 2006 when he was the state PWD minister. He was also NEXT
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booked in another alleged money laundering case by the ED and, in
2016, was arrested by the central agency.
HOME POLITICS ECONOMY WORLD SECURITY LAW SCIENCE SOCIETY CULTURE EDITO
Although Bhujbal went with Ajit Pawar, he has been openly expressing
his discontent but hasn’t shown the courage to quit the party.

Ashok Chavan: A senior Congress leader and two-time chief minister

of Maharashtra, Chavan announced that he too is joining the BJP
earlier this month. While he gave no reasons, it is important to note
that the 65-year-old MLA from Nanded has been facing a CBI probe
for over a decade and half.

He and his family members are accused of being primary beneficiaries

of a 31-storey building named Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society
which was originally built for 1999 Kargil war heroes and fallen
soldiers’ war widows. The ED too is investigating the matter and
Chavan has been named as an accused.

The Supreme Court ordered a stay in the proceedings in 2018. The trial
in the CBI case is yet to begin. The ED, meanwhile has not proceeded
with arrests or filed a chargesheet.

Baba Siddiqui: In 2017, the ED conducted raids at the premises linked

to Siddiqui in connection with a money laundering case over a land
deal related to a slum rehabilitation project. The three-time MLA from
Mumbai’s Bandra had allegedly misused his position as chairman of
the Mumbai board of The Maharashtra Housing and Area
Development Authority (MHADA) between 2000-2004 and allowed
irregularities re-development of a slum at Bandra in suburban
Mumbai. Siddiqui, according to the ED was a direct beneficiary.

While the case is pending, the ED has slowed down action against
Siddiqui. Earlier this month, Siddiqui resigned from the Congress
party to join Ajit Pawar’s NCP.

Ajit Pawar: A senior NCP leader, who shocked the party by suddenly
deciding to break ties with his uncle and party founder Sharad Pawar,
Ajit Pawar is not new to controversies. Ajit has been facing cases filed
by multiple agencies – both on the state and central level. These cases
– pertaining to a co-operative bank and the state irrigation project –
has dragged on for close to a decade. The action, however, has always
been dependent on the party in power.

For instance, the state’s EOW first accused Pawar of allowing

irregularities in loans given by the Maharashtra State Cooperative
Bank. Based on this investigation by the EOW, the ED too filed a case
of money laundering against him. When the MahaVikas Aghadi came
to power in 2019, the EOW case suddenly lost steam and the agency
told the court that no evidence was found against him. A closure report NEXT
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was filed before a special court. The ED investigation, however,
continued.
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When Ajit was the water resources minister in the Congress-NCP
government and chairman of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development
Corporation, he was accused of allowing irregularities in the irrigation
projects. Based on PILs, the Maharashtra Anti Corruption Branch
(ACB) began a court-monitored investigation in this regard. This case
again was kept in cold storage and in 2019, a day after he formed the
short-lived government with Devendra Fadnavis, the ACB sprung a
surprise by submitting a report before the Bombay high court giving
him a clean chit. The report, however, is yet to be accepted by the
court.

Goa

Digambar Kamat: The infamous Louis Berger case involves water

management projects taken up in Assam and Goa. Former chief
minister Digambar Kamat and former state public works department
minister Churchill Alemao were accused in the bribery case. It was
first handled by the CBI and the ED came in to picture soon after.
According to the FIR, 14 shell companies had ferried bribes worth
crores of rupees from the New Jersey-based consultancy Louis Berger
to politicians.

The case and the investigation that started sometime in 2015 against
Kamat and others, intensified in 2021. In September 2022, Kamat, along
with either other Congress MLAs crossed over to the BJP.

Andhra Pradesh

C.M. Ramesh and Y.S. Chowdary, two of the four Telegu Desam
Party Rajya Sabha members who crossed over to the BJP in June 2021,
are also industrialists and have been under the scanner of IT, CBI and
ED.

Months before they joined the saffron party, BJP MP and spokesperson
G.V.L. Narasimha Rao had called both Chowdary and Ramesh “Andhra
Mallyas”. Rao had also written to the Rajya Sabha Ethics Committee,
seeking initiation of “suitable action” against them.

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Most recently, both AP chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and
former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu who are facing multiple
cases ofPOLITICS
HOME corruptionECONOMY
have begun WORLD
cosying up with the BJP.
SECURITY LAW While the
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cases against Reddy is handled by the central agencies CBI and ED, in
the case of Naidu, it was the local state police that arrested him last
year. It is believed that Reddy would not have gone after Naidu without
the tacit support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home
minister Amit Shah.

West Bengal

Suvendu Adhikari: In 2017, when Adhikari was still with the

Trinamool Congress (TMC), he was summoned several times by the
ED in connection with the Narada sting operation case. The sting
operation carried out by a news outlet had showed several politicians
and a high-ranked police officer accepting cash bribes in exchange for
providing unofficial favors to a company.

In 2020, Adhikari joined the BJP and today is the leader of opposition
in West Bengal Assembly. In the 2021 assembly elections Adhikari won
the Nandigram seat against chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

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