It is said money is fungible… according to elders, it doesn’t stay at one place…. Till Monday morning, the money belonged to Dubbaka BJP candidate Raghunandan Rao, if not his, then his father-in-laws. But, within a few hours, it was seized by the police. In the high drama that followed the money was snatched by the people who were present there.
Usually, during election time, the ruling parties try to strike a blow on the financial resources of rival parties. The simultaneous attacks on the houses of BJP candidate Raghunandan Rao in four villages on Monday prove this. The MRO and police seized Rs 18.65 lakh from Raghunandan Rao’s father in law’s house during the raids.
Now, several BJP activists from other places reached the spot on hearing the news of raids. This led to an altercation between BJP activists and police and revenue officials. During the scuffle, the workers snatched as many bundles of notes as they could from the bag containing the money seized by the authorities, leaving officers shell shocked.
However, some of them were caught on video cameras, while a few others escaped. After all, what’s funny is that there is no money left with the officials.
If the money was legal?
Generally, ruling parties focus on taking advantage of the opponent’s resources. The main strategy is to push them into difficulties by leaving them without resources to spend during the election. Though the authorities may not declare the amount as illegal, it will be returned back if the source of income is legal. But by the time the issue gets solved, the elections will be over.
In this case, let us assume that Raghunandan Rao’s father in law proves that the money he had was legitimate. Then from where will the authorities bring the money back. There is a calculation for the money they have seized. But there are no figures as to how much money the people robbed from their hands.
Meanwhile, police are in the process of identifying those who snatched the money based on video footage. What will the police do against those who left with the money without getting caught on cameras? If it turns out that the money is legal… how will the authorities pay it back? Will the authorities face the heat for carrying out the raids? Will it burn their pockets? Who will be held responsible?