QUICK TAKE: As happened during the Hindu, Buddhist, Turkish, and Mughal rule of India, regional kshtraps are ganging up against the central authority as the country braces for a series of state and national elections.

 

Their common agenda is to prevent PM Naren Modi to exploit the powers of central government like Indira Gandhi did in the seventies and early eighties till her death against her political opponents.

 

But Modi is no Indira Gandhi and vice versa. It can be easily argued that Modi has shown more respect for democratic institutions than any member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. But we will handle this topic some other time.

 

As election season heats up erratically before time, estranged NDA partner TDP, which rules Andhra Pradesh, has fired the first shot.

 

Chief Minister CB Naidu on November 16 withdrew the general consent given to the CBI to investigate any case in the state. Wrapped up in Constitutional verbose like the powers of the state, the move is one more indication, if one was required at all, of Naidu's perpetual move to be seen as a bold and supreme Andhra leader who couldn't be fiddled with.

 

Naidu's moved followed his accusation earlier that the BJP and the Centre were using central agencies to destabilize his government.

 

But it's a battle Naidu is not going to win. He doesn't have the material nor morality which his father-in-law NT Rama Rao, whom he backstabbed, had in his fight against Indira Gandhi in the early eighties.

 

What does the withdrawal of state's general consent to CBI mean?

 

According to officers, CBI agents would lose their police powers if they move into the state without the consent of the state government. Which means that the central investigation agency can't carry out any raid, search or seizure without the prior permission of the state government.

 

Nothing could have warmed up the hearts of criminals more than this move of Naidu.

Reportedly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is planning a similar move. But she may act only after assessing the fallout of Naidu's move.

 

Politically, the move may suit the vanity of regional kshatraps. But they have definitely not accounted for the opposite situation: what happens if the central government also withdraws its consent and make state police lose its police powers in central domains. And further, what happens if other state governments follow the same modus operandi and refuse to let police forces from provinces other than theirs to act as a legitimate police force in their domain even while they are chasing criminals and conducting raids on their hideouts?

 

It's too early to assess the impact of Naidu's ill-advised and audacious move. But one thing is certain: the central government can't let states becoming havens for criminals. The problem is if the central government lets Naidu's action go unchallenged, regional kshatraps may take their battle to other central organizations like the Enforcement Directorate, CBDT, and CBIC.

 

So Naidu's move needs to be nipped in the bud and his bluff called off urgently.