Political capital over big black money haul from Congress neta
Eye-popping images of almirahs full of cash in a distillery run by Jharkhand Congress MP Dheeraj Sahu in Odisha once again brought the obscenity of black money to the foreground. Their volume was so huge that half a dozen cash-counting machines of the income tax department conked off. The notes are still being counted as we go to print but their value is said to have gone past ₹300 crore. It is by far the highest-ever haul in any I-T raid. The previous record is said to be ₹160 crore during a raid in Chennai in 2018. Liquor business does generate lots of cash but keeping it off books and in such massive amounts is shocking. Besides, the value of seized jewellery and property documents is yet to be determined. Were the currency notes just his stash or did they include the dirty money of others, only Sahu can tell. Politicians are known to park their kickbacks with industrialists to stay off the tax radar.
Coming as the raids did ahead of the Lok Sabha elections where purging black money is an important poll plank, the Congress squirmed and sought to insulate the party from it. “Only Sahu can and should explain how such huge amounts of cash were unearthed from his premises,” party leader Jairam Ramesh said, adding the party is in no way connected with his businesses. But BJP went for the Congress’ jugular with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying all the dirty money will be returned to the people. He went on to include it in the list of Modi’s guarantees. Since the distillery is in Odisha, the BJP also pointed fingers at the BJD government there for its regulatory failure.
The 2016 demonetisation miserably failed in placing stents in the nation’s arteries to remove the black money clots threatening its heart. Dirty money is a roach that survives all extermination attempts. The volume of currency pieces found in Sahu’s distillery was humongous perhaps because ₹2,000 notes were sucked out in the last few months. Sahu is a three-time Rajya Sabha member who began his political career as a student leader in 1977. In his election affidavit, he had declared only a minuscule portion of the combined wealth of his family. The Election Commission of India ought to go after him to enforce accountability if it really wants to clean up the system.