🎭 Political Theatre | Modi govt aims to drag Choksi home; ED tightens noose on Gandhis over National Herald case

Greetings readers,

Indian probe agencies had a field day this week as fugitive Mehul Choksi was arrested in Belgium, bringing him a step closer to being extradited to India. Other developments in the political arena too had the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as the centre point. The ED filed chargesheet in the National Herald case naming Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

At the world stage, Hamas has proposed a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza and swap all Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel.

So buckle up as we take you on a political tour around the world in this week’s DH Political Theatre.

Fugitive Choksi closer to ‘homecoming’

After Tahawwur Rana’s successful extradition, India took a step forward towards the extradition of Mehul Choksi, a fugitive who fled the country seven years ago. The fugitive diamantaire, wanted for his alleged involvement in the over Rs 13,000-crore 2018 Punjab National Bank loan fraud case, was arrested in Belgium on Saturday.

Authorities in Belgium, where Choksi had gone for treatment, arrested the 65-year-old fugitive acting on an extradition request by India. Choksi will challenge his arrest and possible extradition, his lawyer said.

His nephew and diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is the prime accused in the case, was arrested in the UK and is also facing extradition.

While the Belgian authorities caught Choksi a year after he was spotted in the country, the ED's plea to declare him a fugitive economic offender back home has been pending before a court in Mumbai for nearly seven years.

Hailing the new development, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said Choksi’s arrest was a “victory of Indian diplomacy” under the Modi government. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the government has “zero tolerance” towards fugitives.

The opposition Congress, on the other hand, took the opportunity to remind the BJP government of the failed attempt to bring Choksi to India from Dominica in 2021, when a private jet from India carrying CBI and Ministry of External Affairs officials landed in Roseau to take him.

Senior Congress leader and spokesperson Supriya Shrinate called the arrest a “headline” management exercise and asked if the people who lost money due to the fraud are going to get it back.

Heralding trouble for Gandhi family

The Gandhi family has had several encounters with the ED this week. Perhaps buoyed by the development in the Mehul Choksi case, the ED on Tuesday named Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in a chargesheet filed in connection with a money-laundering case involving party-controlled Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which publishes National Herald.

The Congress termed the ED’s move “politics of vendetta” and vowed to legally challenge it, saying the party and its leadership “will not be silenced”. Congress workers also held protests across the country against the NDA government for the chargesheet.

In return, BJP workers too protested and burned effigies of Rahul Gandhi. The BJP has continued to call out the role of the Gandhi family in the matter and asserted that those who have indulged in corruption and usurped farmers' land will be put behind bars under the "honest government" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, ED recorded the statement of Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for about six hours on the third consecutive day on Thursday in a 2008 Haryana land deal-linked money laundering case.

Bloody run-up to Bengal polls

Discontent and subsequent protests over the new Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 turned violent in West Bengal’s Murshidabad, claiming the lives of three people and displacing hundreds of others. While the situation is returning to normal now, the war of words between the ruling TMC and opposition BJP is likely to continue till the West Bengal Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in 2026.

In a bid to control the riots, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Waqf Act will not be implemented in West Bengal. "Remember, we did not make the law over which many are agitated. The law was made by the central government. So the answer you want should be sought from the central government," the CM said, conveniently putting the ball in BJP’s court.

After gauging its pros and cons in Manipur, the BJP leadership has been hell-bent at making the Bengal CM resign and impose President’s rule in the state. Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari demanded that the 2026 Assembly elections be conducted under President's rule, alleging a complete breakdown of law and order in the state.

The BJP also observed ‘Hindu Shaheed Diwas’ following the riots. Three individuals—Chandan Das, Hargobind Das and Ejaz Ahmed were killed in the violence.

On Friday, despite Banerjee requesting him to postpone his visit to Murshidabad district, Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose left for Malda and met the victims there.

Karnataka caste census conundrum

After accepting the contentious Socio-Economic and Educational Survey, otherwise known as caste census, the Siddaramaiah government has found itself in political hot waters as various communities have raised strong reservations about the report.

Karnataka's two dominant communities—Vokkaligas and Veershaiva-Lingayats—have called the survey "unscientific" and demanded that it be rejected, and a fresh survey be conducted.

Objections have also been raised by various sections of society, and there are also strong voices against it from within the ruling Congress.

The opposition BJP has also criticised the Karnataka government over the report as outdated and unscientific, and asked the state government to consign the report to the dustbin.

The issue is now likely to be taken up in the Cabinet meeting expected to be held on May 2.

BJP, AIADMK’s pre-poll patch-up

Nineteen months after a messy separation, the AIADMK was on Friday back in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls but not before K Annamalai bowed out as the state BJP chief and was succeeded by Nainar Nagendran, who cut his political teeth in the Dravidian party.

Days later, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami ruled out the possibility of a coalition government in the state if the alliance wins the 2026 Assembly election.

Speaking to reporters, Palaniswami, answering a question, said that Union Minister Amit Shah had never said that there would be an AIADMK-BJP coalition government in Tamil Nadu, making it clear that the alliance has been formed for electoral purposes only.

No respite for Gazans as Hamas offers comprehensive deal to end war

Hamas wants a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza and swap all Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel, a senior official from the Palestinian militant group said, rejecting Israel's offer of an interim truce.

In a televised speech, Khalil Al-Hayya, the group's Gaza chief who leads its negotiating team, said the group would no longer agree to interim deals, adopting a position that Israel is unlikely to accept and potentially further delaying an end to the devastating attacks that restarted in recent weeks.

Instead, Hayya said Hamas was ready to immediately engage in "comprehensive package negotiations" to release all remaining hostages in its custody in return for an end to the Gaza war, the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel, and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Since October 7, 2023 more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.

That is all about the political drama that unfolded this week. DH Political Theatre will come back again next week with more political updates from around the globe.

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DH Newsletters Team