Congress accuses BJP of political vendetta as ED raids Rajasthan leaders

The Enforcement Directorate's raids, according to the Congress, are the clearest indication of the BJP's "political weakness." They claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi realized it would be difficult to win elections without the assistance of federal agencies.

The Rajasthan Congress president Govind Dotasara was searched by the Enforcement Department (ED), and Vaibhav Gehlot, the chief minister Ashok Gehlot's son, was summoned in connection with a 12-year-old case involving investments in a hotel under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

The Congress-ruled state of Rajasthan will hold assembly elections the following month.

Investigations into test paper leaks during Dotasara's tenure as education minister were purportedly connected to the raids on the man. In Gujarat, which is dominated by the BJP, exam paper leaks were the biggest problem during the 2022 Assembly elections, yet the ED took no action.

Despite claims of recruitment scams and document leaks, there have been no ED operations in Madhya Pradesh, another state dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Although there have been reports of recruiting irregularities and paper leaks from Uttar Pradesh, the ED has not intervened.

Congress lawmakers accused the ED of being dishonest on Thursday, highlighting the fact that during the previous three months, raids had taken place in Chhattisgarh almost every other day. The state of Chhattisgarh, which is dominated by the Congress, will also vote in January.

In the midst of the campaign, D.K. Shivakumar, the head of the state Congress in Karnataka, was raided and called in for interrogation.

Election-related raids on Congress politicians have become commonplace for the CBI, income-tax authorities, and the ED. People who were linked to Kamal Nath were raided during the 2018 elections.

The ED also conducted a raid on independent candidate Om Prakash Hudla on Thursday. He was in talks for a ticket with the Congress and the BJP. After accepting the Congress ticket in the end, the ED called on his doors shortly after.

"They have resorted to gundagardi instead of winning hearts through principles, policies, and performance," said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. They have attempted to use central agencies as a means of intimidating Congress on previous occasions. They are to blame for the nation's current state of fear. We will still triumph over them.

Sachin Pilot was selected by the Congress to stand up for the Gehlot administration, using this as a chance to demonstrate unity. Six months ago, Pilot had cornered the government by making the paper leaks a major issue, not the BJP.

On Thursday, however, he said, "We are all against paper leaks." However, the timing seems off. Paper leakers might face life in jail under a strict legislation passed by our administration. The fact that our senior leaders are being targeted so close to the election exposes the political vulnerability of the BJP. For all these years, what was the ED doing? These are just political raids.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress, declared: "ED, CBI, and IT become the BJP's Panna Pramukh as soon as elections come." Perceiving a decisive loss in Rajasthan, the BJP has used its last card. The ED has traveled to Rajasthan in order to harass Congress leaders after spending the last several months in Chhattisgarh. The "tanashahi" of the Modi administration is detrimental to democracy. We'll keep up the battle against agency abuse and respond appropriately to the BJP.

Gehlot brought up the example of Ajit Pawar, who was appointed finance minister of Maharashtra only days after Modi publically denounced him as a dishonest politician who had embezzled millions of rupees, to highlight the political retaliation under the pretext of combating corruption. Numerous instances exist where corrupt Congress figures, who had been harassed by the BJP for years, were welcomed and given important positions upon their transition.

Modi's reputation has also been damaged by the inaction in states governed by the BJP. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan administration in Madhya Pradesh has been accused of corruption by the Congress, while the BJP's Karnataka government was called a 40 percent commission regime.

However, Modi decides to preach to the country about the immoral actions of INDIA parties and his intention to hold them accountable. He hasn't shown any desire to confront the issues of prejudice and deceit in the anti-corruption movement.