Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) action against jailed party leader Azam Khan and demanded that the agency conduct raids in a series of alleged corruption cases involving the BJP government and its functionaries.
In a post on X, Yadav said the ED should investigate those allegedly involved in the theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the illegal stocking and supply of codeine-based syrups, and alleged irregularities in the construction of several expressways.
The ED on Wednesday conducted searches at around 10 premises linked to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and the university established by Khan in Rampur and Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, as well as Delhi's Jamia Nagar, as part of a money-laundering investigation.
ED officials have alleged that government contract funds were diverted through private contractors and subsequently used, among other purposes, to create assets for the trust and the university.
Reacting to the searches, Yadav alleged that the agency was targeting those who had built educational institutions while ignoring other alleged cases of corruption.
"The BJP and its associates, who are anti-education, anti-teacher and anti-student and who are shutting down schools, are conducting ED raids against those who build universities to satisfy their remaining 1-2 per cent communal, narrow-minded and argumentative supporters," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
Yadav alleged that no action was being taken against people facing allegations in several criminal cases and listed a series of issues over which he demanded ED action.
He called for raids against those he described as "Ram temple thieves", "power-linked criminals" and those allegedly involved in the "codeine scandal".
The SP chief also criticised the condition of several infrastructure projects, demanding action over what he described as the "dilapidated Bundelkhand Expressway", the "shaking Purvanchal Expressway", the "pothole-ridden Kanpur-Lucknow Expressway" and the "cracked Green Corridor", all allegedly built during the BJP government's tenure.
His list also included "broken roads", "collapsing bridges", "collapsing water tanks", "leaking roofs" and a "station wall" constructed during the BJP rule.
Yadav further demanded action against "corrupt policemen backed by the BJP government" and contractors allegedly involved in irregularities during the Maha Kumbh.
He also accused BJP-linked contractors of siphoning off Rs 1 lakh crore during the Maha Kumbh and demanded action against those allegedly involved in what he termed a "multi-trillion-rupee game" in the name of Smart Cities.
Yadav also raised allegations of illegal constructions involving BJP lawmakers and accused officials of allegedly distributing Rs 7,000 crore among themselves after "covering up misconduct and abusive remarks through publicity".
(With inputs from PTI)
