NEW DELHI: In a rebuttal to Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said on Monday that Rahul Gandh’s 2013 ordinance-tearing episode was an act of principle unlike the current dispensation’s “tactics of targeting of Opposition leaders using Central agencies”.
“This is not about one ordinance. It’s about the BJP’s pattern of targeting Opposition leaders,” Venugopal told this newspaper.
“That was an act of principle. Contrast that with what is happening now where Opposition leaders are targeted, arrested, and harassed by ED, CBI, income tax. Everybody knows the pattern: the same leaders who are hounded one day are given immunity the moment they join the ruling party.
Since 2014, ED has investigated 121 leaders, of whom 115 were from Opposition parties. At least 25 prominent politicians facing corruption cases have crossed over to BJP, and in 23 of those cases, they got immunity,” he said.
He cited recent examples from Karnataka and Maharashtra, alleging that elected governments were toppled using pressure from Central investigating agencies. “The BJP’s washing machine is the cleanest in the country. Once a leader joins them, their corruption charges disappear.”
Shah’s remarks that “morality should be like the Sun and Moon—unaffected by wins or losses” drew sharp reaction from the Congress leader. “Morality? From a party that suspends MPs en masse, bulldoses Parliament, and installs those once branded corrupt into ministries? The BJP’s only morality is to grab power at any cost,” Venugopal retorted.
On Shah’s comment that governments cannot be run from jail, in a veiled reference to formeer Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Venugopal said, “This isn’t about one CM. It’s about the BJP’s open misuse of agencies to arrest, disqualify and silence rivals. This bill is not about governance or corruption. It’s about legitimising the vendetta politics.”