Following raids by the Enforcement Directorate on properties linked to Congress leaders, the party on Monday termed the raids in Chhattisgarh as “third-grade politics of vendetta and harassment” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and asserted that it will not be intimidated by such “tactics”, reported ANI.
Speaking at a press conference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that this is not ‘Amrit Kaal’ but an “undeclared emergency”, a reference the party had also used during the marathon three-day survey operations by Income Tax department against BBC India. The action by the tax officials had come weeks after the British broadcaster had released a two-part documentary titled ‘India: The Modi Question’.
The central probe agency on Monday conducted fresh searches at multiple locations in Chhattisgarh, including at premises linked to Congress party leaders, as part of an ongoing investigation into the coal levy money laundering case. The residential and official premises of various Congress leaders naming Ram Gopal Agarwal, Girish Devangan, RP Singh, Vinod Tiwari ad Sunny Agrawal are also being searched, ANI reported, citing official sources.
Ramesh alleged that the central probe agencies are being misused by the present government, and said that at least 17 Opposition parties have come together against the grant of powers to the ED under the PMLA and the Opposition will jointly file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its previous judgement on the issue.
The ED raids in Chhattisgarh, where the Congress is in power, come days before the three-day plenary session of the Congress party which will be held in Raipur from February 24-26.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh also hit out at the Centre accusing the BJP of being “frustrated” with the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and called the raids an “attempt to divert attention”.
“Today, the ED has raided the houses of many of my colleagues, including the treasurer of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, the former vice-president of the party and an MLA. After four days, there is a Congress convention in Raipur. Our spirits can’t be broken by stopping our comrades who are engaged in the preparations,” the CM said, in a tweet in Hindi.
“BJP is frustrated with the success of ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and the truth of Adani being exposed. This raid is an attempt to divert attention. The country knows the truth. We will fight and win,” Baghel added.
In the coal levy case, which the ED said was a “scam” and a “grand conspiracy”, nine persons, including an IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, Chief Minister’s deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia, have been arrested in the case. The investigation relates to “a massive scam in which illegal levy of Rs 25 was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen”, the ED has alleged.