shwetank's-pad

Ah, can you smell that? Whenever a political pickle pops up these days, the air is suddenly thick with the pungent, heavy fragrance of “Constitutional Morality”. It’s a vintage scent, usually kept in cold storage by the Congress party and their media megaphones until it becomes convenient to spritz it all over the room. Since popular memory is apparently as fleeting as a 24-hour news cycle, let’s take a lovely scenic tour through the archives to see how this “morality” smelled when the shoes were on the other feet.

Let me bring a few blasts from the past.

The Jharkhand Thriller (2005)

In 2005 Jharkhand Election, this was the result in an 81 seat Assembly:

NDA: BJP 30 + JD(U) 6 = 36; With letters of support from AJSU 2 + JP 1 + IND 2 = 5

Had a clear majority of 41 to form Govt.

UPA: INC 9, JMM 17, RJD 7, NCP 1= 34

Others: UGDP 2, AIFB 2, CPI(ML) 1, Ind 1, = 6

But then, Governor Syed Sibtey Razi (ex-Congress leader), on orders of Mafiosi, stunned everyone by inviting and swearing in JMM’s Shibu Soren as CM, and Stephen Marandi as his Deputy. Stephen was a JMM rebel who had just defeated Shibu’s son Hemant Soren. Morality, eh?

The NDA decided to fly the 41 MLAs (including the precious 5) to Delhi to be paraded before President Kalam. The scheduled 90 minutes flight from Ranchi to Delhi wasn’t funny.

The Jharkhand Governor Sibtey Razi, on orders of Sonia Gandhi, sent Deputy CM to raid the airplane to stop BJP from parading its 41 MLAs in front of President of India. How’s that for a dose of morality?

What happened next will blow your mind folks, if you don’t already know.

Like a 3rd rated Bollywood climax scene, the Deputy CM Marandi and his men stopped the chartered plane on the runway when it was about to take off! They raided the plane to capture the 5 MLAs.

Alas! None of those 5 MLAs were on board. Anti-Climax!

The MLAs were actually driven. Congress now knowing MLAs are escaping, first sealed the BJP ruled Chhattisgarh state border and then the Orissa border, for obvious reasons. Chhattisgarh was under BJP rule, and Navin Patnayak was part of NDA.

Damn! They were actually driven via CPI(M) ruled West Bengal. It was indeed funny!!

The 5 supporting MLAs finally reached Delhi and were presented before the President of India. A week later, Jharkhand Governor Sibtey Razi dismissed Shibu Soren from the post of CM and invited Arjun Munda to form the govt in the state.

A few more morality lessons.

The Independent “King” and the Treasury Loot

That “moral” foundation eventually gave us the 2006 appointment of Madhu Koda, a lone independent MLA made Chief Minister simply because the UPA partners couldn’t stop bickering. Supported by Congress from the “outside” to “keep the BJP away,” Koda’s tenure became a masterclass in “Siphoning 101”.

While today’s media frets over procedural delays, let’s reminisce about the ₹4,000 crore Koda Scam. Koda realized he’d never be CM again, so he decided to maximize his revenue by bypassing the boring paperwork of traditional scams. He just withdrew cash directly from the treasury.

Koda personally pocketed roughly ₹1,340 crore meant for development. A “fixed percentage” was demanded for every contract before it even left the office. The funds were laundered via hawala to buy hotels and land in Dubai, Thailand, and Liberia.

Did Congress, Lalu Yadav, or their elite media stooges take accountability? Of course not; they just swept it under the carpet. Not only that, but the battery of Congress lawyers also ensured that despite being convicted and being sentenced for life he is out of jail after spending 40 months in jail. Exactly the same as his convicted CHOR mentor – Lalu Yadav,. No one even remembers that today. If you ask Mediacrooks like Rajdeep, you’ll find him busy setting his moral compass.

The Evolution of “Resort Politics”

When Congress isn’t busy raiding planes, they’re busy locking their own people in luxury prisons. In Karnataka (2018–2019), D.K. Shivakumar, the party’s “primary enforcer,” who turned the Eagleton Golf Resort into a fortress. Whether it’s guarding MLAs from “poaching” or standing in the Mumbai rain to “rescue” rebels at the Renaissance Hotel, the message is clear: When Congress is operating, democracy is best served behind high walls and monitored exits.

The Maharashtra Precedent

By 2019, the Maharashtra crisis finally forced some actual rules into this chaos. When the “Dawn Oath” of Devendra Fadnavis was challenged, the Supreme Court moved the goalposts from verbal promises to physical Letters of Support. The Governor’s subjective satisfaction is no longer enough; individual signatures are now the only legal currency.

The Current Standoff: Tamil Nadu (2026)

Which brings us to the present brouhaha in Tamil Nadu. Actor Vijay’s TVK is the Single Largest Party with 108 seats, but the Governor is refusing to invite them without a Letter of Support for the 118-seat magic number.

The “outraged” crowd claims the Governor is ignoring the Sarkaria Commission. However, following the 2017 Goa and 2019 Maharashtra precedents, “numbers on paper” now override SLP status. This prevents the very horse-trading the Congress perfected back in 2005.

The Governor is simply using the discretionary gap created by years of opportunistic manoeuvres from all sides. While Congress cries foul, they are merely facing a system that finally grew teeth to prevent another Shibu Soren-style runway raid.

It’s a classic case of constitutional chickens coming home to roost.

The Congress-brand of constitutional morality is like salt in any recipe – “Swadanusaar.”