On April 28, 2025, a Delhi court accepted the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) closure report in the long-running money laundering investigation tied to the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), effectively dismantling one of the most prominent corruption allegations against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. After 15 years of scrutiny, the absence of evidence for money laundering marks not only a legal vindication for the Congress party but also a moment to reassess the political weaponisation of corruption narratives in India’s fractious democracy.
The Rise and Fall of the CWG Scandal
The 2010 CWG, intended as a showcase of India’s global ambitions, became synonymous with mismanagement and alleged graft. Investigations targeted figures such as Suresh Kalmadi, then chairman of the CWG Organising Committee, over contracts for workforce services and project management. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), then in opposition, seized on these allegations, framing the UPA as emblematic of systemic corruption. The narrative gained traction, amplified by a nascent anti-corruption movement led by activists like Arvind Kejriwal, who later founded the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Cases like CWG, alongside 2G spectrum and coal allocations, dominated headlines and shaped electoral outcomes, notably the BJP’s landslide victory in 2014.
The ED’s closure report, however, reveals a stark disconnect between perception and reality. No evidence of money laundering was found, echoing the judicial outcomes in the 2G case, where courts similarly found no basis for the alleged scam. For the Congress, this is more than a legal reprieve; it is a cudgel to challenge the BJP’s moral posturing.
Congress’s Counteroffensive
The Congress has wasted no time framing the closure as a repudiation of the BJP’s tactics. Pawan Khera, a senior Congress leader, accused the BJP of orchestrating a “politics of false narrative,” weaponising agencies like the ED to tarnish the UPA’s legacy. Jairam Ramesh, another party stalwart, implicated both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kejriwal in a pre-2014 collusion to manufacture scandals, targeting not just the CWG but also the reputations of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The Congress’s demand for apologies from Modi and Kejriwal is as much a political gambit as a moral stance, aimed at recasting the BJP’s anti-corruption crusade as a cynical exercise in defamation.
The BJP’s Strategic Silence
The BJP, now in its third term under Modi, has offered no public comment on the CWG closure. This reticence contrasts with its earlier zeal in prosecuting the UPA’s alleged misdeeds. The party’s focus appears to have shifted to consolidating power in states like Maharashtra and Haryana while navigating fresh challenges, such as the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. Acknowledging the CWG closure risks reopening a debate the BJP would rather consign to history, particularly as it faces accusations of misusing central agencies in other cases, such as the National Herald probe involving Congress leaders.
Kejriwal’s Complicated Legacy
Arvind Kejriwal, whose anti-corruption activism once galvanised public sentiment, finds himself in a peculiar bind. His early critiques of the CWG, alongside his broader campaign against UPA-era governance, helped propel AAP to power in Delhi. Yet, the Congress now casts him as a co-conspirator in the BJP’s narrative-building, demanding he apologise for misleading Delhi’s voters. Kejriwal, preoccupied with governance and his own legal battles with the ED in unrelated cases, has remained silent. An apology would undermine his anti-corruption credentials, a cornerstone of AAP’s identity, making it a politically untenable prospect.
The Politics of Perception
The CWG closure underscores a broader truth about Indian politics: narratives often outlive facts. The BJP and Kejriwal’s success in 2014 owed less to judicial verdicts than to public frustration with perceived corruption under the UPA. The CWG and 2G cases, while legally unsubstantiated, provided potent ammunition for a electorate hungry for change. Today, the Congress seeks to reverse this dynamic, leveraging the ED’s findings to paint the BJP as a purveyor of “manufactured” scandals. Yet, in a polarised media landscape, where X posts and television studios amplify selective truths, the party faces an uphill battle to reshape public memory.
The closure also raises questions about the role of investigative agencies. The ED’s 15-year probe, culminating in a null finding, fuels allegations of political overreach, particularly as the agency pursues other high-profile cases against opposition leaders. For voters, the line between accountability and vendetta grows increasingly blurred.
A Fragile Victory
For the Congress, the CWG closure is a rare moment of vindication, but its political dividends are uncertain. The party’s attempt to frame the outcome as a moral triumph risks being overshadowed by the BJP’s narrative of transformative governance or newer controversies. Moreover, while the money laundering angle has been dismissed, other criminal investigations tied to the CWG may persist, tempering the Congress’s claims of total exoneration.
The demand for apologies from Modi and Kejriwal, while rhetorically potent, is unlikely to yield results. In India’s zero-sum political arena, contrition is a luxury neither leader can afford. Modi’s BJP remains focused on projecting strength, while Kejriwal’s AAP navigates its own survival. For the Congress, the challenge is to translate legal victories into electoral momentum—a task that requires not just truth, but the louder megaphone it has long lacked.
The Quiet Power of Truth
As the Congress aptly notes, truth asserts itself quietly, without the fanfare of television debates. The CWG closure is a reminder that judicial outcomes can lag far behind political realities, leaving lasting scars on reputations and institutions. Yet, it also highlights the resilience of facts in the face of orchestrated narratives. Whether this moment marks a turning point for the Congress or merely a footnote in India’s political saga depends on its ability to wield the truth as effectively as its rivals once wielded the lie. For now, the ED’s report stands as a sober corrective—one that India’s democracy would do well to heed.
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