"Enforcement Directorate Raids Spreading in Country Like Locust Swarm": Ashok Gehlot

Launching a strong attack on the Centre and the Enforcement Directorate, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has compared the agency's raids across the country to a "locust swarm from Pakistan" and said that, instead of its intended purpose, it is being used to target opposition leaders and topple governments.

Mr Gehlot's comments came on a day when the agency summoned the sons of Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra over money laundering charges in connection with an alleged paper leak last year. The agency had also carried out searches on the Jaipur and Sikar homes of Mr Dotasra last week. Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in the state on November 25.  

Speaking at an event on Thursday, the chief minister said in Hindi, "You are all seeing what is happening in the country, ED raids are happening. You know about the 'tiddi dal' (locust swarm) that comes from Pakistan, these days an 'ED dal' is spreading across the country. They have made it a joke. I was reading an article today which said that the firepower of agencies like the CBI, ED and Income tax department is reducing."

Mr Gehlot stressed that this is not good for the country and brought up fugitive economic offenders like Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi.

"Have there been no new Mallyas or Nirav Modis? Is no one committing economic crimes? But they are colluding with the BJP. The party takes money, bonds and donations but has stopped people from donating to other political parties. The agency was created to fight economic crime but it is being used to harass politicians, topple governments and engage in buying and selling," he added.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who skipped the ED summons in the liquor policy case and was campaigning in Madhya Pradesh, also fired a salvo at the centre and said he faces the threat of arrest every day. 

"They are threatening every day that they will arrest Kejriwal... Kejriwal is not afraid of going to jail. You will arrest Kejriwal's body... how will you arrest Kejriwal's thoughts? You will arrest this one Kejriwal, how will you arrest thousands, lakhs and crores of Kejriwals," he asked at a rally in Singrauli.

What Other Parties Have Said

Arvind Kejriwal's AAP and the Congress are part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, which was formed to take on the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections next year. Several other members of the alliance, including the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the DMK have spoken out against the alleged misuse of central agencies.

On Wednesday, reacting to the summons issued to Mr Kejriwal, Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "Before next year's elections, they (the BJP) are trying to gag the voice of all opposition parties. They are planning to arrest all opposition leaders before polls so they can vote for themselves in an empty country... they are hatching a conspiracy." 

Her Tamil Nadu counterpart and DMK President MK Stalin also hit out at the Centre on the same day and alleged the misuse of Central agencies like the ED, CBI and the Income Tax department. On the claims of opposition leaders that they had received alerts on their iPhones that they may have been hacked by "state-sponsored attackers", he said the BJP had threatened Apple.

Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren, who is facing an Enforcement Directorate investigation himself, said, "Mr Kejriwal is running an opposition government and the state of such governments is not hidden from anybody. Everyone can see the state of the country and the state of our democracy... Such questions (about people being summoned) have become stale."

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav warned that notices and summons like the one issued to Arvind Kejriwal will be sent to everyone. "Will the government send 140 crore people to jail? After such ED raids and such incidents, 115 crore people are angry with the BJP. Will you send all of them to jail," he asked.

Sanjay Raut from the Shiv Sena UBT said the government is charging opponents with money laundering and looking to lock them up before the elections. "We had heard there is no evidence against Manish Sisodia, but evidence was found in 10 days and his bail was rejected. Another AAP leader, Sanjay Singh, is also in jail. I am out on bail. A West Bengal minister has been arrested two days ago. Whether it's the AAP, Trinamool, Shiv Sena, NCP or RJD, false cases have been filed against leaders of the INDIA alliance," he said on Tuesday.

"The CBI and ED are being used to finish such leaders politically. This is what is happening in the country... Summons are issued to Mr Kejriwal, but are everyone in the government and the BJP pure as milk? There are nearly 12 MPs and MLAs in Maharashtra who had ED summons and warrants but have now joined the government. Be it Ajit Pawar or Hasan Mushrif, they have been made part of the government. If Kejriwal joins your party, he will become Satyavadi Harishchandra. This won't last long," he added.

The BJP has, however, maintained that the parties are using the allegation as a means of deflecting from their acts of corruption. It has also emphasised that the agencies are acting independently and are following all legal processes. 

On the summons to Mr Kejriwal, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "You reap what you sow... Such a massive scam could not have taken place without Kejriwal's clear approval."