The Rising clout of Anurag Thakur

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

The Rising clout of Anurag Thakur

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct 31 

Gods are finally smiling on the young Minister of State for Finance & corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur and his clout is rising by the day in the party. He was in political wilderness for all these years despite being the three term Lok Sabha MP. He was a minister hopeful in the first Modi government but missed the bus because his father Prem Kumar Dhumal was Chief Minister. So far so good. When Dhumal lost election last year, it was expected that he will be rehabilitated. But the luck was not on his side. He had also lost the post of the Chairman BCCI under the Lodha Committee dispensation. But times have changed ever since he was inducted in the Modi. 2 government. His big clout came to the fore when he played a key role in getting Saurabh Ganguly elected as the new president of the BCCI. His younger brother became the treasurer while Amit Shah's son Jay Shah became Board's Secretary. It was his proximity with Amit Shah and performance that is now paying rich dividends. It was Anurag Thakur who played a key role in ensuring the defection of Neeraj Shekhar from SP to BJP. Neeraj is part of Young Parliamentarians group comprising of Supriya Sule, Nishikant Dubey, Dushyant Chautala and from other parties. It was Anurag Thakur who brokered the deal with Dushyant Chautala, president of the JJP whose party won 10 Assembly seats in Haryana. Since BJP was looking for a stable government after securing only 40 seats, Anurag Thakur held a marathon meeting with Dushyant who came to his 18 Janpath residence and then they drove to Amit Shah's house. The party chief was so desperate for the deal that he return to the Capital from Ahemdabad midway to seal the deal. This was a phenomenal rise for Dushyant too who had lost Lok Sabha polls in May 2019 and was fighting a bitter battle for survival with his uncle Abhay Chautala of INLD.

Politically, its a deadly combination of non Jats and Jats in Haryana with BJP leading it from the front. The BJP returned to power despite losing majority. This enhanced Anurag Thakur's clout and clearly, among the BJP's young ministers in the Union Ministers he has emerged a favoruite.

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Amit Shah ensured Ganguly election as BCCI Chief

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

special report 

Amit Shah ensured Ganguly election as BCCI Chief

Vetoed his son Jay Shah's name for coveted post

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct. 14

Contrary to popular perception that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was propping up his son Jay Shah for the coveted (BCCI) post, it transpires that he strongly pitched for a professional.

At a closed door meeting held at his residence on Saturday night when top guns of cricket associations from across the country called on Amit Shah, he flatly refused to allow his son to be appointed as BCCI chief. N Sriniwasan of India Cement fame who is a key player in Tamil Nadu, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur and host of other cricket association presidents attended it.

These top notches wanted to seek the indulgence of Amit Shah so that a consensus can be arrived at for the post of new president. The names of Sourav Ganguly, Brijesh Patel, Rajat Sharma, president of the DDCA, Jay Shah from the GCA etc. were doing the rounds for the coveted post. The BCCI polls are taking place after a long time and the Committee of Administrators (COA) will now seize to exist on October 23 when Saurav takes over.

Jay Sha who represents the GCA at the AGM in Mumbai, is the hot favourite. But Amit Shah vetoed his son's name saying that a professional be inducted for the post. Gone are the days when Maharashtra leader Sharad Pawar used to call the shots. It may also be mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has been a former head of the GCA.

There are clear signals that the BJP leadership decided to throw its weight behind Saurav Ganguly for long term political interests as well. Anurag Thakur is reported to have played a key role in convincing Ganguly that after his term as BCCI chief, to campaign during the West Bengal Assembly polls in 2021. Saurav Ganguly will have a tenure of one year only under the new rules under which an office bearer can have a running administrative role for nine year and thereafter will have a cooling off period of three years.

Under the formula, Brajesh Patel may become BCCI chief after Ganguly demits office in September 2020. But for now, Ganguly's unanimous election has the clear stamp of Amit Shah.

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Efforts for truce with Cong begin

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

￭ Government washes hands off with Dr Swamy

￭ I-T not proceeding in the tax exemption case

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Dec 8

The Winter Session of Parliament may not be a washout as predicted by many after a huge confrontation witnessed in Parliament in the National Herald case. 

Last ditch efforts are being made to restore calm in the Parliament session ending on December 23. Since the magistrate hearing the National Herald case has posted the matter for December 19 and the Congress leaders have decided to fight judicially and politically as well, disruptions in Parliament may not continue for long either.

All eyes are set on the massive wedding reception to be held on Wednesday for Union finance minister Arun Jaitley's daughter Sonali with Jayesh. The presence of Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi on the occasion may give a clue of melting the ice. The aggression on the part of Congress may also subside during the next couple of days as it would revert to the debate on intolerance rather than on corruption.

The government has conveyed explicitly to the Congress leadership that it has no hand whatsoever in courts in the National Herald case. In fact, senior advocates appearing for the Congress had pleaded before the high court that the case should be heard by the same judge who was hearing it earlier. The registry had changed the case from one judge to another after the festival break. The Congress plea was accepted by the court and the Congress got the same judge it wanted.

Secondly, the Income Tax department has not proceeded against the Congress party for giving ` 90 crores as interest free loan to Associate Journals Limited. The Income Tax exemption of the Congress can be withdrawn merely on the ground of diversion of funds under the existing rules. The department has been moving at a snail's pace after issuing one notice. It was stated by the government that the BCCI's tax exemption was withdrawn by the UPA government when it gave ` 25 crores for the promotion of Football to Football Association. The department said that BCCI cannot transfer funds for the promotion of football as exemptions are given only for the promotion of cricket. These exemptions have not been restored for several years. Therefore, the government has no political vendetta against the Congress party. Rather it is trying to help the Congress in the case.

It was also explained to senior leaders of the Congress by the government that Dr Subramanian Swamy may be a member of the BJP. But the current ruling establishment has nothing to do with him as he had fired salvos at the ruling party as well in the past.

Modi Govt. struggling to slap PMLA against Modi

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Special report

The Modi government is struggling to invoke Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against ex-IPL commissioner Lalit Modi who is holed up in London after various cases were slapped against him five years ago.

Top officials in various agencies including Enforcement Directorate, CBI, DRI, Corporate Affairs, Narcotics and Mumbai Police are scanning tons of files to zero on a fool-proof criminal case against him to enable the government to invoke PMLA.  Even the SIT was struggling yesterday through the day to zero on a criminal case against Lalit Modi so that he can be booked under PMLA. 

The UPA government slapped 15 cases against Lalit Modi for Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 which does not provide ED powers to arrest him. The ED could not issue an arrest warrant against Lalit Modi due to this very reason and failed to press the Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice. What ED issued was a “Blue Corner Notice” which is no meaning in law. Even Finance Minister Arun Jaitley admitted that there is some confusion over "the shades of blue" whether it was a Light Blue Corner Notice. 

Highly placed sources in the ED told this correspondent that the PMLA can be invoked only after a pre-dated criminal case is registered against a person under 28 Acts notified to invoke PMLA. Secondly, the PMLA case can be registered by the ED on its own if it has evidence to prove that the person laundered money which are “proceeds of crimes including drug, smuggling, terror” etc.  The problem is that if the ED converts a FEMA case into the PMLA after five years, it must have some fresh impeccable evidence to prove criminality.

Another reason for successive governments going soft on Lalit Modi is that it will also bring officials and members of the BCCI & IPL governing bodies. The game of Cricket being an all party affair, nobody wanted to precipitate the issue after Lalit Modi quietly eloped in 2010. If the UPA didn’t convert the FEMA cases into PMLA and not registered a single criminal case against Lalit Modi for four years, the NDA too looked the other way. 

Yet the pressure on the Modi government is so intense that a agencies have been told to register a criminal case against Lalit Modi under any of the 28 notified Acts to slap PMLA. Interestingly, the BCCI doesn't want to be a complainant in the matter. Therefore, the agencies are working overtime to find out a case against Modi not related to Cricket, IPL, Champions League etc. The government wants to file an appeal in the SC and for this a fresh case is considered necessary.