THE arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in an excise policy case appears to have recoiled on the BJP. It was timed to shift the narrative from the electoral bonds scam. Now, the impugned secret funding law introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first government is being described as an extortion racket run by the Indian government. Apparently, the can of worms opened by the supreme court’s order to reveal the links and volume of funds between political beneficiaries and their corporate donors has put Mr Modi in its crosshairs. That the court took six needlessly long years to identify the donors and recipients of their funds allowed Mr Modi access to the largesse for the 2019 elections and for politically crucial state polls. The money may have also helped finance the defection of MLAs to bring down opposition governments in key states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. Early revelations showed that the BJP pocketed electoral bonds worth Indian Rs60.6 billion (around $725m) between April 2019 and February 2024. That’s more than 60pc of the total amount so far computed, the rest going to opposition parties running state governments. The cash-strapped Congress for its part says its funds, already dried up by the BJP’s monopoly on corporate resources, have been further depleted by a freeze on its bank accounts imposed by the income tax commissioner just before elections were announced.

To the surprise of the BJP, the arrest of Mr Kejriwal has cemented the 27-party opposition alliance, instead of striking terror in their ranks as is thought to have been the intention. Details from the electoral bonds have also threatened to boomerang on the excise graft case against Mr Kejriwal and two of his top colleagues. An alleged accomplice-turned-approver against Mr Kejriwal is found to have paid the BJP thousands of crores in bonds after his arrest in the same excise case and a bigger amount after his bail, which was, strangely, not opposed by the Enforcement Directorate. Mr Modi’s corporate friends would be pleased by the targeting of opposition leaders like Mahua Moitra, Rahul Gandhi, Mr Kejriwal and the farmers, all trenchant critics of crony capitalism. If Mr Modi’s throw of the dice is not challenged, the coming elections will be a punishing steeplechase for the opposition against a 100-metre dash for the BJP.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2024