GEHLOT SLAMS CENTRE OVER MISUSE OF ED, SAYS DEMOCRACY IN DANGER

New Delhi: Ahead of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi’s appearance on Thursday before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the National Herald case, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot slammed the Central government for misusing the central agencies and said that democracy is in danger. Gehlot addressed a press conference in Delhi as Congress staged protests across the country against the BJP-led government’s “vendetta politics”.

The Congress party once again opened a front against the central government over ED’s interrogation of Sonia Gandhi. Several Congress leaders including Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, former Union Minister Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, who were involved in the sit-in demonstration outside the Congress headquarters in Delhi, were detained by the police. The protesters were preparing to take out a march against the ED.

Delhi Police first tried to stop the Congress leaders by barricading. However, when they insisted, the cops detained them and took them to King’sway Camp Police Lines. Meanwhile, CM Gehlot attacked the Centre and BJP while interacting with media at the AICC headquarters in Delhi, saying, ‘ED has become a weapon to form and topple the government.” Accusing the BJP of toppling the government, he said, “They take pride in toppling the governments. They now want to create an ‘opposition-free’ India. The way the Centre is treating Sonia Gandhi is shameful. ED could have taken statements from Sonia Gandhi by going home like Motilal Vora, but they have stooped lower. If they were in our place today, they would have set the country on fire. Their nature is to commit violence and sabotage. We are protesting peacefully, our people are singing the hymns of Raghupati Raghav Rajaram.”

Gehlot further said, “Earlier they used to talk about Congress-mukt Bharat, now they are moving towards opposition-free India. Modiji had pointed this out in Hyderabad recently. They consider the opposition as the enemy. There is no enmity in the opposition, we are only fighting for ideology. They feel proud of bringing down an elected government. They are tarnishing the credibility of the premier agencies of the central government. People of central agencies are working under pressure. It has become a habit to conduct raids without first conducting a probe. The ED has conducted more than 1,700 raids and in half of the cases there has been no conviction. Their conversion rate is negligible. They use ED only to intimidate opposition and for political purposes. They first try to scare, bully and later forget. They raid wherever elections are near, forgetting the purpose as soon as the purpose is fulfilled. Since BJP is frightened by Udaipur declaration of Congress, now ED has been pushed forward.”

The senior Congressman said that there was a conspiracy to topple the government in Rajasthan, and even then raids were conducted. “I had written letters to CBI & ED Chief in the past. I wanted to tell them about the image of these premier agencies among the people today. People are being oppressed. When there was an attempt to topple government in Rajasthan, there were raids at five places simultaneously. Our meeting was taking place & raids were being conducted at our back. Those who were not industrialists were also raided,” he said.