"ED, CBI Are Independent. Nothing To Do With Us": Minister Anurag Thakur

Refuting the opposition's claims, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are independent agencies and the probe agencies have nothing to do with the BJP.

Speaking at the Times Now Summit, Mr Thakur emphasised that "no one can accuse Modi ji of corruption in these 10 years".

"In 2013, Kejriwal used to say that he would swear by his daughter that he would not enter politics and would not join hands with Congress. They (congress and AAP) have no achievements of their own, they just abuse Modi ji in the morning and evening. More they abuse PM Modi, more people will elect us with much bigger mandate," he said.

"The ED summoned Arvind Kejriwal nine times, why did he not come? He used to talk about great morality. When he didn't come, ED arrived at his home. Just as AAP got zero seats in Delhi in 2014 and 2019, this time they will get zero in Punjab also," he added.

Further, the Information and Broadcasting Minister highlighted that those who used to talk about morality are in jail today.

"ED and CBI are independent agencies. They take action in their own way. This has nothing to do with us," Mr Thakur said.

Further attacking the INDIA bloc, Anurag Thakur said that the INDIA alliance is full of ego and pride.

"If they were so honest then why would they change its name? There was 2G scam, submarine, coal scam, there were so many scams, so they could not go in front of the public with that face. Then who was added to the alliance, Lalu Yadav of fodder scam, the party whose ministers, deputies are in jail," he added.

He asserted that the investigative agencies used to take action against the corrupt and would continue to do so in future too.

Mr Thakur pointed out that if action has to be taken against corrupt people, then does the timing matter?

"If action is to be taken against corruption, then does timing matter? In a country where elections are held in eight states in one year, we talk about One Nation One Election which can save thousands of crores of rupees, then they oppose it," he said.

Speaking on the investigation on 2G scam, he said that at time, the shelter was given by the then UPA government to protect A Raja and others who were involved in the 2G scam. If today the permission is granted, we can commit to the country that there will be a transparent probe and action will be taken as per the law.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)