Nepotism and Dynast politics has always been an integral yet repugnant part of Indian polity. In recent times there has been a procession of sons-in-law of Indian politicians that have found themselves in the net of investigative agencies for corruption, misappropriation of funds and numerous scams. From Robert Vadra to Irfan Siddiqui to Ranjan Bhattacharya, Indian politicians and their revered Damads have more often than not brought trouble and misery for the party. Perhaps, it can be said that the Damad-Yog of Indian politics is its own “Kaal Sarpa Yog”.
Gaurav Chaturvedi, son-in-law of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the CBI couple of days ago for allegedly leaking false reports about Deshmukh being acquitted by the investigative agency.
The 65-page leaked documents, which were sent to various news organisations, suggested that CBI’s investigative officer had opined that no cognisable offence can be made out against Anil Deshmukh and recommended closure of a preliminary inquiry. The CBI has denied the report as the final report. Although Chaturvedi was soon let go by the agency, the incident once again showed the collusion and bonhomie the two close kin shared.
Similarly, Girish Chaudhary, son-in-law of NCP leader Eknath Khadse, who is considered a heavyweight in Maharashtra politics, is also accused of irregularities in the purchase and sale of land while the latter was a minister. The ED has arrested him for purchasing land worth Rs 31 crore for Rs 3.75 crore. Khadse was also grilled by ED for over eight hours on July 8 in the PMLA case.
At the same time, Samir Khan, son-in-law of minister Nawab Malik, is in the custody of the Narcotics Control Bureau since January 9. It is alleged that in January, Khan had procured drugs from the US by a British national named Karan Sajnani. NC had seized 75 kg of marijuana and 125 kg of other intoxicants from him.
As reported by TFI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stepped things up a notch in July when it attached properties of Dino Morea, Sanjay Khan, DJ Aqeel, and most importantly Irfan Siddiqui, son-in-law of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel in the Sterling Biotech bank fraud case. Reportedly, the value of attachment of assets for Irfan Ahmed Siddiqui is Rs 2.41 crore.
The ED took to the official Twitter handle to inform about the latest development in the case. “Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached movable & immovable properties worth Rs. 8.79 Crore under PMLA in Sandesara Group case. With this attachment, the total attachment reached to Rs 14,521.80 Crore,”
Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached movable & immovable properties worth Rs. 8.79 Crore under PMLA in Sandesara Group case. With this attachment, the total attachment reached to Rs 14,521.80 Crore. pic.twitter.com/8SEPTxCRZf
— ED (@dir_ed) July 2, 2021
Read More: Dino Morea, DJ Aqeel, son-in-law of Ahmed Patel and others in Sterling Biotech bank fraud case
The biggest name to have used the son-in-law card to catapult himself to the top of the business world is none other than Congress high command leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband Robert Vadra. Central investigating agencies like CBI, ED have set up an investigation against Vadra due to irregularities in the purchase and sale of land. Congress has suffered politically the most due to these allegations levelled against Robert Vadra.
Read More: ED reveals, Robert Vadra received 300 crores from Pilatus
It is not to say that only opposition parties have been at the receiving end of misery brought by the sons-in-law. Ranjan Bhattacharya, the husband of Namita, the adopted daughter of Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the biggest leader of the Bharatiya Jana Party, also faced serious allegations of corruption, which, to some extent tarnished the image of otherwise pristine Vajpayee.