New Delhi, April 15: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of misusing central agencies against the opposition ahead of elections. This allegation arose as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the business and residential premises of AAP MP Ashok Kumar Mittal.
Recently, Mittal took over as the deputy leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha, succeeding Raghav Chadha. The ED targeted multiple locations owned by Mittal’s Lovely Group in Jalandhar and Phagwara, Punjab.
In response to the ED’s actions, SP MP Rajiv Rai stated, “Perhaps if Mittal had not been chosen as AAP’s deputy leader, such actions would not have occurred.” He added, “I faced similar raids before the Uttar Pradesh elections.”
Rai claimed that central agencies have lost their credibility and are being used to tarnish their image. He remarked, “When the government lacks faith in democracy and the public, it resorts to using these agencies to intimidate and threaten people.”
Punjab Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that the BJP openly misuses agencies like the ED, CBI, and the Election Commission whenever elections are held in any state. He noted, “Now that elections are approaching in Punjab, the BJP has started the same tactics here.”
AAP leader Anurag Dhanda also commented, “It seems the BJP has begun its election preparations in Punjab.” He accused the party of fighting elections not through votes but by leveraging the ED, CBI, and voter lists.
AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar stated that there are no coincidences in politics. She suggested that Raghav Chadha might have a role in the situation, claiming that a recent meeting took place between top BJP leaders and Chadha, where it was decided that Chadha would receive Z-plus security while raids would be conducted at Mittal’s residence.
Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar accused the AAP of being involved in corruption in the state. He referenced a recent directive from the Punjab and Haryana High Court questioning the Punjab government for not filing an FIR in a purported multi-crore scam related to the post-matric scholarship scheme for SC students.
Jakhar asserted that the ED’s raids should be viewed in this context, noting that the alleged scam occurred during the tenure of the Congress government in Punjab.
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