ED raids, Electoral Bonds and Jairam Ramesh’s ‘washing machine’ salvo at ex- Congress MP Naveen Jindal’s BJP ticket

Industrialist and former Congress member of parliament (MP) Naveen Jindal switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday evening. Less than an hour later, Jindal found his name in the fifth candidate list of the saffron party for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls 2024.

The BJP has fielded Jindal from Kurukshetra in Haryana, a seat that he represented as a Congress candidate for two terms in 2004 and 2009. The BJP had won all ten seats of Haryana in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh took a dig at Jindal saying that the he needed a "giant-size washing machine” after resigning from the Congress party.

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"When you need a giant-size washing machine this had to happen. And after making ZERO contributions to the party in the last ten years, saying I am resigning from it is a big joke," Ramesh said in a post on X.

Corrupt-Mukt Congress

Ramesh was perhaps referring to Jindal, and his company Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a case pertaining to irregularities in allocation of a Jharkhand coal block.

“The PM wanted a Congress-mukt Bharat (India). Instead he has made a Corrupt-mukt Congress by deploying so many washing machines along with the ED and the CBI to force corrupt Congressmen to flee to his embrace," Ramesh added.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating the money laundering charges against Jindal’s company in connection with the allocation of the coal block. In April 2022, the ED had conducted searches at multiple premises associated with JSPL in connection with a case of forex violations.

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The opposition parties have often accused the BJP of inducting tainted leaders from their camp, following which the alleged corruption charges against them are ‘cleaned’ and hence the term ‘washing machine’.

The opposition parties in INDIA bloc are organising a rally at Delhi's Ramlila Grounds on March 31 to protest the alleged misuse of central agencies by the Prime Minister Narendra Mod-led BJP government at the Centre. This comes days after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED in the Delhi Liquor Policy case. Kejriwal is under ED remand until March 28.

15th biggest Electoral Bonds donor

JSPL also featured in the political donors list in the Electoral Bonds data released by the Election Commission of India earlier this month. The company was 15th biggest donor according to the ECI data and purchased bonds worth ₹123 crore. Jindal is the chairperson of JSPL.

Ramesh had earlier accused the company of Quid Pro Quo, too. JSPL gave ₹25 crores worth bonds to the BJP on October 7 2022, and three days later, the company won the Gare Palma IV/6 coal mine contract on October 10 2022, Ramesh alleged in a post on X on March 15.E

JSPL’s mining, power and steel business is largely concentrated in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. The company made all the donations between October 2022 and November 2023.

While announcing his resignation from the Congress party, Jindal expressed his gratitude to the party and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "I represented Congress Party in Parliament as MP from Kurukshetra for 10 years. I thank the Congress leadership and the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Today I am resigning from the primary membership of the Congress Party," he said in a post on 'X'.

Jindal represented the Kurukshetra constituency in the Lok Sabha for two terms (2004 and 2009). In 2014 he, however, lost to the BJP's Raj Kumar Saini and was not fielded by the Congress in 2019.