In peak poll time, MVA allies target BJP-MahaYuti over 'washing machine politics' in Maharashtra

Mumbai: An unholy political fracas erupted again on Friday during the peak election season in Maharashtra, this time on the spectre of 'washing machine politics' reportedly being pursued by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the Opposition leaders in the state and the country.

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President Supriya Sule, Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut and spokesperson Kishore Tiwari, among others raked up the dirt against the ruling MahaYuti alliance of Shiv Sena-BJP-Nationalist Congress Party.

Firing her salvo, Sule referred to the comments by ruling NCP Minister Chhagan Bhujbal -- indicating the BJP's style of 'pressure-politics' -- that figure in a new book, "2024: The Election That Surprised India", penned by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

Referring to Bhujbal's statements in the book, an agitated Sule said that the central investigation agencies were being misused by an 'invisible force' to break the Opposition parties, rival leaders and even their families, not only in Maharashtra but also in other states.

"I have said this on record in Parliament, the national media has reported it, how 95 per cent of all I.C.E. (Income Tax-Central Bureau of Investigation-Enforcement Directorate) cases are lodged against the Opposition leaders and their families. Even women are not spared. My three elder sisters (Rajani Indulkar, Geeta Patil and Vijaya Patil) were targeted by the I-T with raids for five days. The womenfolk of other leaders were also similarly harassed," Sule said.

Raut said that besides Bhujbal, Ajit A. Pawar, Hasan Mushrif, Dilip Walse-Patil, Praful Patel (all NCP); Eknath Shinde, Pratap Sarnaik, Bhavana Gawali (all Shiv Sena) dumped their parties to escape the ED and save their money and properties.

"Whatever they may say now is meaningless. Some had even gone to jail. They quit due to ED fears and after siding with the BJP, they were cleared of all charges, and case files were shut. Now they are worried about the implications of a government change. Even I was under severe pressure. I had written to the former Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on all this," said Raut.

As a political storm loomed, Bhujbal promptly denied having made the remarks attributed to him and warned that his legal team will initiate action against the new book author-publisher.

Tapase said that the trend of 'washing machine politics' is a threat to democratic principles and called upon the judiciary, the media and the masses to scrutinise the action of such politicians who exploit party affiliations to escape accountability.

In a sharp reaction, Tiwari said that the central probe agencies and even police have become 'unofficial cronies of the BJP', discarding their traditional image of neutrality, to manage politics or business on behalf of the ruling dispensation.

Alluding to Bhujbal's remarks that NCP-SP President Sharad Pawar was also 'pursued' two-three times to go with the BJP, Sule said her father flatly refused on various grounds including how 'the BJP was abusing I.C.E. against the opposition'.

Raut said that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray is pleading for power with a promise to clean up Maharashtra of migrants and other burning problems in 48 hours.

"Unfortunately, he is himself supporting the people who are enemies of Maharashtra… he should first cleanse Maharashtra of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and (Home Minister) Amit Shah who are destroying the state before talking of others," said Raut.

Tiwari said that the increased deployment of probe agencies for political purposes had eroded the peoples' faith in the law-enforcers and even the judiciary, while Tapase cautioned that the pattern of selective enforcement poses a dangerous precedent and threat to democracy.