Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot hit out at the Modi government on Tuesday, alleging that it "misuses" agencies like CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and the Income Tax Department whenever elections are due in a state or a political crisis is created.
With Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections approaching, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has started conducting raids in the state, he said.
On Monday, the CBI registered a case against 189 people, including 16 government servants, for alleged irregularities in the Rs 1,437-crore Gomti riverfront development project in Uttar Pradesh undertaken during the tenure of the Samajwadi Party (SP) government headed by Akhilesh Yadav, according to officials.
After registering the case, the agency sleuths swooped down on 42 locations spread across 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Alwar in Rajasthan, and Kolkata in West Bengal, they said.
"The CBI, the Income Tax Department, and the ED are activated with special instructions whenever elections are approaching in a state or a political crisis is created. With elections approaching in UP, the CBI has started conducting raids (in the state)," Ashok Gehlot said in a series of tweets in Hindi.
"These agencies were also misused in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka, etc. in the past," he said.
The chief minister said the credibility of all these central agencies has been largely due to them working in an impartial manner for years. However, the way the BJP is giving orders to these agencies to fulfill its political agenda has ruined their credibility.
"Most of the officers working in these agencies have this in their minds. Yet they are compelled to take action. I am sure that when the time comes, the public will give a befitting reply to the BJP which is misusing central agencies politically," Ashok Gehlot said.
Uttar Pradesh will go to the polls in the first quarter of the next year.
