BHUBANESWAR: Amidst the renewed political storm over the National Herald case, president of the Samajwadi Party and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) should be closed down as it has now become a tool in the hands of the Centre to harass the Opposition leaders and silence their voices.
Addressing a media conference here along with former union minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena, Yadav said that there is also no necessity for ED as there are several institutions like the Income Tax department and GST authorities to deal with economic offences.
Yadav’s remarks came in response to a question regarding the ED filing a prosecution complaint against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.
The SP supremo said that several political parties, including his own, had opposed the creation of the ED during the Congress-led government's tenure, warning that the very institution might later be used against them.
Referring to Maharashtra, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said that leaders who spoke against the BJP were later targeted by agencies like the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department. “In my understanding, a department like ED must be abolished. I will also ask the Congress to demand the same. If such an agency exists, it means you do not trust your own mechanisms,” he added.
The SP president also expressed a keen interest in expanding the Samajwadi Party's reach in Odisha, stating that the SP base in the was limited. Stating that there is a need to enhance its organisational base in Odisha, Yadav said that he wants the party’s presence to increase in the state by engaging with the people at the ground level.