What do you think who will benefit from Kejriwal's arrest?

 Kejriwal’s arrest is big news. The timing seems premeditated. The dictionary meaning of premeditated is something that is done after being thought about or carefully planned. The ED seems to be fighting spiritedly. However, I would like to draw parallels to something else and seek viewers' attention to two sets of events I am going to compare.

Following is one of the main charges against Kejriwal is that

• The ASG further said that the proceeds of crime were over Rs 600 crore. "Proceeds of crime is not only the Rs 100 crore bribe received, but also the profits made by the bribe payers, amounting to Rs 600 crore," ASV Raju said.
• The ED said that Kejriwal was directly involved in the formulation of the policy, and he was involved in the handling of the proceeds of crime. The proceeds of the crime were used for campaigning in Goa elections, the ED said. "We have traced the proceeds of the crime and taken statements of many persons involved in the Goa election campaign," the ED said.

The allegation against Kejriwal and his team of ministers is that AAP was paid a bribe of 100 crores by some South Group and the bribe payers made a profit of Rs. 600 crores. And AAP allegedly used the kickback amount of Rs.100 crores in the Goa election. Let's accept the charges verbatim for debate.

Now come to the case of Electoral Bond purchased by Santiago Martin, the lottery and gaming King. Santigi Martin is a free man despite so many ED cases. What is the secret? The secret is that he has donated ₹1,368 crore through Electoral Bond. The data released by Election Commission shows how Martin purchased electoral bonds despite his properties coming regularly under provisional attachment by ED.

There seems no restriction if you want to buy electoral bonds. After all, money is money source doesn’t matter. Megha Engineering, run by PV Krishna Reddy, is the second largest political donor through electoral bonds, according to information provided by State Bank of India to the Election Commission

In October 2019, the Income Tax department raided multiple offices of Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) in Hyderabad and other cities. The ED has also started a probe. Since then, the company has donated Rs 966 crore in electoral bonds, reports The Quint.

Of the top five donors of electoral bonds to political parties between 2019 and 2024, three companies faced probes from the ED and tax authorities. Of the top 30 donors, 14 were raided by probe agencies.

Don’t you think that Santiago Martin buying Electoral Bonds worth ₹1,368 crore is also a bribe? He must have given that money for some special benefits. And for giving a bribe of 1368 crores, he must have made a much bigger profit. But has anybody been arrested for taking that bribe? Did the ED investigate why such a huge amount of bribe was given and what special favour was given to Santiago Martin? Did the ED investigate for which election this money was spent by the party that received that amount?

Why did I bring this parallel? The ED alleged that some South Group paid a bribe of 100 crores to AAP and the money was spent in the Goa election. Along the same line, Santiago Martin paid a political party an amount ₹1,368 crores through electoral bonds. Both the money was supposed to be used for fighting elections.

South Group is a business house and “Future Gaming and Hotel Services' of Santiago Martin is also a business house. Both the houses paid money to political parties for favors and business profit. Both houses are expected to make profits out of their business operation because of patronage received from the party concerned. In both cases, the political parties utilized the money for election purposes.

Inprincipally do you see any difference? Suppose the South Group had paid the money through Electoral Bond, it would have been perfectly legal despite the reduction of excise duty being a scam. Look at the amount, it is not even 10% of what “Future Gaming and Hotel Services' of Santiago Martin paid. He must not have paid it from his pocket. He must have done a much bigger scam than the Delhi Liquor Scam to be able to pay ₹1,368. An unknown firm Megha Engineering has paid Rs 966 crore in electoral bonds. From where? Do you know the name of the scam or the size of the scam? But Delhi CM & DY CM got arrested for just Rs. 100 crores.

We all need to brood over this. What is a scam and what is not? it's a matter of how you define a scam. You have asked - Who will benefit from Kejriwal's arrest in Delhi? the answer is very simple - who arrested Kejriwal and who brought the Electoral Bond. Kejriwal also could be a small beneficiary but with a much smaller value.

See Kejriwal had to go to jail just for 100 crores(?). But BJP receiving over 6000 crores through EB is perfectly legal. This is the biggest irony. Kejriwal is a criminal but Modi ji is a saint. Someone just asked why shouldn’t the electoral bond amount also be considered a kickback. The ED and CBI should investigate what special privileges were provided to the business houses in return for the EB donations. I do not say that Kejriwal and his team are clean. But what about others who have taken much much bigger amounts? Only the route is different. Nobody holding them guilty. ED is not after them.