Is Sonu Sood Being Targeted For Getting Too Close To AAP?
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-09-15 15:15:03
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The Income Tax department today conducted 'survey' at 6 premises liked to actor Sonu Sood. Sood was in the limelight during the nationwide lockdown in the first wave of Covid when he helped thousands of migrant workers and others stranded persons to reach their homes. He provided logistics and funding for the purpose. That had endeared him to many people and his fan following had grown by leaps and bounds. But Sood was in the news recently for an entirely different reason. He had a meeting with AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi and was appointed brand ambassador for the mentorship programme of school students in Delhi. Critics of the government say that Sood is being targeted for that as the BJP thinks he might join AAP.
I-T surveys are common. They are usually conducted against any individual, business or company when the department either receives a 'tip-off' or gets to know of a large transaction or a series of such transactions conducted by the entity under investigation through banks, any other source or through big data analysis. In normal circumstances, a survey should not generate such heat and should not elicit so many responses from politicians, civil society and the media.
But this case is different for two reasons.
First, the NDA government has gained notoriety for using government agencies to harass, intimidate and threaten its opponents and those it thinks could become opponents, including politicians, civil activists, journalists, businessmen and even academicians. There have been innumerable cases against so many people and organizations that one has lost count. Recently, similar I-T surveys were conducted against news portals Newsclick and Newslaundry, two media organizations critical of the government.
Second is the chronology. The agencies are usually unleashed on people before or after some event. For example, TMCs Abhishek Banerjee and his wife were targeted before the elections in West Bengal. In Sood's case, he has been targeted just a few days after he met Kejriwal. Thus, the pattern is established. Not much should be read in the I-T department's clarification that the survey was conducted after receiving a tip-off as such tip-offs can be 'arranged' to target people.
Is the BJP afraid that if Sood joins AAP, he will become a thorn in its side in the ensuing elections in UP? As AAP is making a big thrust in UP, Sood might help it enormously as he holds a special place in the hearts of many migrant workers from UP whom he helped during the lockdown. But the government's unabashed intimidating tactics are earning it a bad name and must not be used as a tool to threaten political rivals in a democracy.
Pic courtesy: bbc.com, caption ours
