(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January. The former journalist took on former Union minister Kapil Sibal and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in the national election from Chandni Chowk in Delhi.)
This is what a sting shows: Sher Singh Dagar, a senior BJP leader from Delhi, attempting to offer four crores to Ashok Mohania to resign as an AAP member of the Delhi assembly. The AAP legislator is told that if he switches to the BJP, he will be given a ticket to contest election, and the entire election expense will be met by the BJP. If he loses the election, he is promised that he will get the chairmanship of some local body.
Money was to be handed over to our MLA at a mutually-agreed place. But there was a catch which made the entire exercise even more sinister than standard political poaching operations. The AAP MLA was told that the cash would be handed over to him then and there, and in lieu of that, the MLA should be handed over to them then and there and that he would remain in their captivity till the BJP proved its majority on the floor of the house. We were shocked to hear this and worried about our member's safety, so we decided to end the sting there.
We also felt that even without money been shown, the video was powerful enough. It successfully exposed BJP and claims by its senior leaders that the party will not indulge in any horse-trading in its attempt to form the Delhi government.
The BJP has an illustrious list of members caught on camera with cash. The whole world has seen BJP's party president Bangaru Laxman accepting money from a Tehelka reporter in 2001. The famous quote of BJP's cabinet minister Dilip Singh Judeo, who was filmed on hidden camera in an alleged attempt to accept a bribe, is still fresh in my memory. He had said in 2003- '
Paisa khuda to nahi, khuda ki kasam khuda se kam bhi nahi.' (Money is not God but I swear by God, it is no less than God). Then in 2005, six parliamentarians from the BJP were caught on camera accepting money to raise questions in parliament.
The AAP expose has changed the complexion of Delhi politics. We had been raising the issue of attempted horse- trading by BJP leaders for last few months, but every time we were told there was no evidence. But now since there is hard evidence, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung should withdraw his letter to the President in which he seeks permission to invite the BJP to form the government in Delhi. This is the question the sting raises- how moral is it on the part of the Lt Governor to still invite BJP to form the government ?
It would also be against the spirit of the constitution to which the Supreme Court referred to very recently in a judgement on the issue of those with criminal charges becoming ministers. Now it's no longer the question of technicalities but about constitutional morality. And constitutional morality demands that no unethical means should be employed to muster support to form the government. So in the light of this expose, it would be interesting to watch If BJP is still brazen enough to try and form the government. Will the Lt Governor ignore the call of constitutional morality and go purely by numbers ? Will the President remain a mute spectator?
AAP is born to fight corruption and it's about time Modi realizes that people with great hope have given a massive mandate to him. An incident like this will greatly dent this image. It will be suicidal for him if he allows the BJP's lust for power to overwhelm the moral issue.
Senior BJP leaders like Harsh Vardhan have said they would prefer to go for elections. This is the voice that the BJP should listen to, if it intends to deliver on the PM's promise to clean up politics.
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