Is Arun Jaitley eroding Brand Modi: Shailendra Dhar

IS ARUN JAITLEY ERODING BRAND MODI?

Arun Jaitley records statement on DDCA corruption charges defamation case at a Delhi court. Ram Jethmalani, black money crusader, who ardently worked to make BJP- NaMo dream run possible, will be cross examining him. Nothing brings out the irony of BJP's quest for 'continuity' after a mandate for 'change' as starkly as this.
There is more. Kirti Azad is given show cause notice for levelling corruption charges against Jaitley and Swamy, another anti corruption, anti Congress crusader, drafts his reply letter.
Modi's FM has undoubtedly come out as a divisive figure within the ruling alliance but has Arun Jaitley been defying the PM too? Or so it would seem in the curious case of P C Chidambaram related probes and those impacting NDTV's alleged financial irregularities. The whistle blower in these cases was Mr S K Srivastava, an IRS officer of 1987 batch who had with great conviction believed that P C Chidambaram was also involved in the suspected irregularities in NDTV's financial transactions and other cases which ED is probing now. ED in its recent submission before a court placed the figure involved at an astronomical Rs. 2030.50 crores. A money trail that blazes through London, Holland and US, involving even some influential global players like GE of USA.
S K Srivastava had to pay a heavy price for it. He was suspended, harassed and burdened with all kind of charges. After a tenuous, harrowing and often lonely battle, he was eventually reinstated and given back-dated promotion after judicial directions. The then revenue secretary Mr Sunil Mitra had to even give Mr Srivastava a written unconditional apology on 21.05.2011.
That, it was hoped, would put an end to an unsavoury game of retribution and harassment of a civil servant trying to uncover corruption and fraud, a game that involved industrialists, pliant journalists, corrupt bureaucrats and of course politicians.
But there was no respite for Shrivastava. He remained without posting. Ironically he remained without posting even after the new government was sworn in with Arun Jaitley as his minister.
Sources say, on 18 June 2014, Narendra Modi asked Bharat Lal, former Resident Commissioner, Gujarat Bhawan and later Jt Secy with PMO, to see that this IRS officer languishing without posting gets posted. Finance ministry refused to oblige and it appears that that info was leaked to a concerned media house on 27 or 28 June.
Principal Secretary, PMO Nripendra Mishra, is said to have persisted with finance ministry for over a year. Apparently, sources say Revenue Secretary even misinformed PS to PMO that Shrivastava had already been posted to Patna. In the meantime in July 2014, S K Srivastava wrote to the Finance Minister seeking an appointment. For two months there was no reply. And when someone told this to Nripendra Mishra, this IRS officer was asked to meet the Revenue Secretary instead. Essentially, Arun Jaitley refused to meet him.
On 2nd April, 2015 Nripendra Mishra wrote another DO letter to Revenue Secretary on the matter.
Finally nearly 15 months after the Chidambaram's govt was removed and 15 months after Modi became PM on 15 July, he was posted as Commissioner, Noida and not as DIT (Investigations) which is what he was supposed to have been posted as.
Whose interest was the Finance Ministry serving by denying Shrivastava a posting? And do charges of Mr Jaitley's detractors carry weight when they say he is trying to erode "Modi's brand value"?
(Mr Shailendra Dhar posted on his FB Wall on 05.02.2016; can also be accessed at www.shukracharya.wordpress.com)

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