In a brazen move, the BJP has laundered ‘Shinde Sena’ (Shiv Sena’s Shinde faction) MP Ravindra Waikar, its Maharashtra ally, through its nefarious “washing machine,” scrubbing away scam of land grabbing worth ₹500 crores. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Spokesperson Reena Gupta has questioned the abrupt closure of investigations against Waikar, who faced multiple Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids before conveniently switching factions. This incident mirrors previous cases where investigations were conveniently closed upon politicians joining the BJP ranks, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Praful Patel, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Baba Siddiqui.
AAP Spokesperson Reena Gupta said in a press conference at the party headquarters on Saturday that the BJP is the most corrupt party in the political history of India. The most recent example of BJP’s corruption is Shiv Sena Shinde faction MP Ravindra Waikar from Mumbai. Ravindra Waikar has been elected MP from Mumbai Lok Sabha seat this time. An FIR was registered against him on 14 September 2023 for trying to build a five star hotel by occupying the land of a public garden worth ₹500 crores in Jogeshwari area of Mumbai. After this, the matter went to ED and several raids were conducted at Ravindra Waikar’s locations. It is estimated that the value of that land is around ₹500 crores.
The AAP Spokesperson continued, “But just like many leaders get washed away in the ‘BJP’s Washing Machine’, Ravindra Waikar also left Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena on 10 March 2024 and joined the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, which is a constituent party of the NDA. On Friday, the case against him was closed. The ED filed its closure report in the court. Now Ravindra Waikar also got washed away in PM Modi’s washing machine and he got the certificate on ‘honesty’. The surprising thing is that the ED has written in its closure report that this whole matter started due to incomplete information and misunderstanding. After Ravindra Waikar joined the BJP, not a single raid was conducted at his house and a closure report was directly filed.
Reena Gupta further said that this is not the first case. In the last few years, many such cases have come to our notice. Whoever joins the BJP, PM Modi washes him in his washing machine and gives him a character certificate. There are many such cases from Himanta Biswa Sarma to Narayan Rane. Apart from this, there are four big cases, whose investigation has been stopped and a closure report has been filed, so that there is no investigation in future. This includes Chhagan Bhujbal’s ₹1000 crores ‘Maharashtra Housing Scam’, Praful Patel’s ₹30,000 crores ‘Aviation Scam’, fraud case against Jyotiraditya Scindia, including Baba Siddiqui’s ₹500 crores slum rehabilitation scam. All these people joined the BJP after being accused, after which the investigating agencies stopped investigating it.
She mentioned that every day some corruption cases are being exposed in the country, due to which people are angry. Within the last 10 days, 15 bridges collapsed in Bihar. 3 airport terminals collapsed. NEET and UGC NET papers were leaked. The reason for all this is corruption. There has been a lot of corruption in giving contracts for government projects. PM Modi says, ‘Neither will I take money nor will I let anyone take it’, then how is it that even after so many accidents, no action is being taken against anyone. One result of this rampant corruption is that a large number of rich and capable people are migrating from this country.
“In the last 7 to 8 years, about 50,000 rich people have left the country. High net worth individuals who can do business worth crores in the country, can provide employment to our youth. They are saying that what is the use of paying so much tax and staying in the country when the quality of life of the people is so bad. Corruption is the only reason behind these incidents happening in the country. We will have to raise our voice against it. If this corruption is not eradicated, then our country will never be able to come in the category of developed nations. It is important for the better future of our children that we stand against it,” Reena Gupta concluded.