NEW DELHI: With two prominent Congress faces in CBI and ED nets, and the noose possibly tightening around a few others, the party is grappling with a crisis that has been growing since its electoral drubbing in May and the leadership suspense.
There was a sense of disbelief in Congress as former finance minister
P Chidambaram was sent to Tihar Jail and Karnataka firefighter
DK Shivakumar arrested by the Enforcement Directorate a day before. Though the party maintained the actions were politically motivated, it seems clear that Congress faces a test of credibility.
While Madhya Pradesh CM
Kamal Nath's nephew Ratul Puri was arrested by the ED over his alleged role in the
AgustaWestland
chopper scam, the agency also questioned Congress leader Ahmed Patel's son Faisal for alleged involvement in the Sterling Biotech money laundering case.
Congress put up a brave face and said it would not be cowed down or silenced by the attempted "persecution" but the developments appear to have thrown the party into disarray ahead of crucial assembly polls in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana as BJP drives home the corruption issue against it. Coming on the heels of a division of opinion over its opposition to revocation of
Article 370, the graft arrests do not augur well with state level leaders leaving the party in poll-bound states.
The arrests and action by investigating agencies have also taken the sheen off Congress's repeated attacks on the Modi government's handling of the economy. The slowdown gives Congress a reason to attack the government, but the arrests raise the question as to who is best equipped to handle the economy, with BJP pointing to its rival's scams.
The action of enforcement agencies against Congress stalwarts has helped the ruling party put the focus back on "dynasty" and the "corrupt power centres" that flow from it. Some Congress leaders have indicated that the test may not be limited to dealing with just an electoral reverse but pose a more fundamental question on the direction and leadership of the party. The drift has seen feuding increase in states like Madhya Pradesh, one of the few big states the party is in office.
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