Daily Briefing: Express Investigation into cases against turncoats in BJP; Katchatheevu issue explained; and more

The law takes its own course — unless it is nudged by politics. Since 2014, as many as 25 prominent politicians – across party lines – facing action from Central agencies for alleged corruption have crossed over to the BJP. In 23 of these cases, their political move has translated into reprieve, an investigation by The Indian Express has found.

For instance, take the case of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who was facing probes by the Mumbai Economic Offences Wing and the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged irregularities in the running of Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. With Pawar’s political flip-flops – at first, forming the government with the MVA alliance and later, the NDA – the probes, too, took pivots.

Big Story

Six months after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was granted bail by the Supreme Court Tuesday. The ED did not oppose Singh’s bail application, hours after it was reminded by the court that the “money has not been recovered”.

With AAP’s leadership in jail, Singh’s bail could not have been more timely. His release promises to tackle challenges that may be bigger than the upcoming Lok Sabha elections – that of keeping the AAP flock intact, and removing the hurdles in communicating with INDIA bloc parties.

Only in Express

With the BJP raking up the issue of Katchatheevu island, there is a sense of disquiet in Colombo and Delhi. Former Sri Lankan and Indian diplomats, however, say that the agreement in the 1970s had concluded in “good faith”. They underline how Delhi was able to get access to Wadge Bank and its rich resources.

So, did India indeed “cede” Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka in 1974? And what happened two years later, in 1976, when India signed a second agreement with Sri Lanka? Here’s the story.

Eight of the 17 unlisted companies in the lists of top ten donors of electoral bonds to the BJP, the TMC and the Congress, donated many times the total profit they made over the four financial years since April 2019. Also, four of these companies reported overall losses in that window. We break down the electoral bonds data to see how donations to various political parties worked.

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Decision 2024: With barely weeks to go for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, there is still uncertainty, or as some in the party say, a “strategic silence” on whether Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from Amethi and Raebareli respectively to keep alive their family’s connection with Uttar Pradesh, or not. We take a look at how the move will affect Congress in UP.

In today’s Opinion section, Zainab Sulaiman writes: “The United States is calling India out for going ahead with the CAA implementation, with a senator stating, “Making matters worse is the fact that it is being pushed during the holy month of Ramadan.” This, while the US has supported Israel right through the Gaza war. As if Ramadan is not happening in Gaza.”

And Finally…

17-year-old Gukesh will be the second youngest player ever to compete at the high-stakes event that is the last hurdle any player must cross before they get to battle in the World Chess Championship. We take a deep dive into his preparations in bid to become the youngest ever World Championship finalist.

Delhi Confidential: With barely weeks to go for the Lok Sabha polls, the INDIA bloc allies — the Congress and the Samajwadi Party — are leaving no opportunity to showcase their bonhomie in public. On Tuesday, the Congress organised an iftar party at its Lucknow headquarters in the presence of party national general secretary in-charge Avinash Pande.

🎧 In today’s edition of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk about the Great Indian Bustard, a species of birds which heading towards extinction, CBI filing a closure on a case involving NCP’s Praful Patel, and an update on the Enforcement Directorate’s crack down on AAP leaders as Sanjay Singh gets bail.

Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta and Rounak Bagchi

Business As Usual by EP Unny