JAIPUR: The CBI raid on Ashok Gehlot’s brother Agrasen Gehlot evoked sharp reactions from the Congress, which accused the Modi government of using Central agencies to harass its opponents even as the BJP dismissed the allegation.
“Harassment of Opposition leaders who stand up and speak truth to power has become the hallmark of the BJP government. I stand in solidarity with Ashok Gehlotji and his family against this politics of vendetta. Our fight will go on,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted in support of the Rajasthan Chief Minister.
Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said the Centre will not be able to silence party leaders. “This is vendetta politics beyond all bounds. Ashok Gehlot was at the forefront of the protests in Delhi over the past three days, and this is Modi government’s brazen response!” the former Union minister said in a tweet.
Gehlot’s former deputy and rival in the party Sachin Pilot, too, came out in the CM’s support and targeted the Centre saying the raid showed that agencies like Income Tax, CBI and ED were working as puppets of the Modi government. The government was deploying these agencies to harass Congress leaders while issues like inflation, unemployment, and hunger were being suppressed, he added.
“The unnecessary pressure of the Government of India, the political pressure that is on the Central agencies, is visible to all. The way the ED has decided to torture Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in a malicious spirit... we all Congress people oppose it,” Pilot said.
Accusing the government of acting with political vendetta, Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra said the Centre’s action showed there was an undeclared ‘emergency’ in the country. “Modi government should stop misusing the central agencies. Otherwise, there will be so much anger in the whole country that our condition will be worse than in Pakistan,” he warned.
Gehlot’s Chhattisgarh counterparty Bhupesh Baghel, too, condemned he “misuse” of central agencies. “This is politics of revenge. Every probe agency should be allowed to work independently,” he said.
BJP dismisses charge
State BJP spokesperson Ram Lal dismissed Congress charges as baseless. “When things don’t work according to their wishes, they don’t like it. All the agencies work independently. If you are honest, then why do you fear?” he said.