Ashok Gehlot's son has been summoned by ED in a foreign exchange violation case
Hitting out at the BJP-led Union government for Enforcement Directorate's action against Rajasthan Congress leaders, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today said the BJP does not want women, farmers and the poor to benefit from the Congress' guarantees ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls.
"Central agencies have no credibility now. It is a worrying situation. This is not about my son or the state Congress president. Atank macha rakha hai desh mein (they have spread terror in the country)," he told the media.
Mr Gehlot said the ED raided the state Congress president without a notice. "ED raids against Govind Singh Dotasra has big political ramifications. He has worked tirelessly for the Congress."
On the summons to this son, the Rajasthan Chief Minister said Vaibhav Gehlot got a notice, asking him to be present in Delhi today. "Is this a joke?" he asked. Vaibhav, he said, has no foreign exchange dealings.
The Congress, he said, is not worried or scared. "This will go against the BJP," he said.
The remarks come after the ED searched the premises of state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra and Congress MLA Om Prakash Hudla in connection with the Rajasthan paper leak case. Also, the ED summoned Mr Gehlot's son Vaibhav in connection with a case of alleged violation of foreign exchange rules.
Earlier, in a post in Hindi on X, Mr Gehlot said, "Date 25/10/23: Congress launches guarantees for women of Rajasthan. Date 26/10/23: ED raid on Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Ji Dotasra. Summon to my son Vaibhav Gehlot to appear before ED."
"Now you can understand what I have been saying that ED's raids are happening in Rajasthan because the BJP does not want women, farmers and the poor in Rajasthan to get the benefit of the guarantees given by the Congress," he added.
The Rajasthan Chief Minister promised two guarantees if the Congress is elected to power -- cooking gas cylinders to over a crore families for Rs 500 and an annual honorarium of Rs 10,000 to the woman head of a family.
The Congress high command, too, slammed the BJP over the ED actions.
Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the ED, CBI and the Income Tax Department become the BJP's real 'panna pramukh' as soon as elections come. Panna Pramukh is a key part of the BJP election machinery, which involves a door-to-door approach to reach voters.
"Seeing its certain defeat in Rajasthan, the Bharatiya Janata Party made its last throw of the dice! After Chhattisgarh, the ED has also entered the election campaign in Rajasthan and started action against Congress leaders," Mr Kharge posted on X.
"The dictatorship of the Modi government is fatal for democracy. We will continue to fight against the misuse of agencies, and the public will give a befitting reply to the BJP," the Congress chief said.