ED raids in Chhattisgarh, days ahead of Congress plenary

New Delhi, February 20

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted raids at over a dozen locations in Chhattisgarh, including premises linked to state Congress leaders, as part of an ongoing probe into the alleged coal levy scam, officials said.

The raids held for over 12 hours come days before the three-day plenary session of the Congress which is in power in the state. The session begins on February 24 in Raipur.

The Congress and state Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel cried foul over the raids, calling it “vendetta politics” by the Centre, a charge rejected by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Vendetta talk a shame

The Congress which went out of power over corruption should not talk of vindictiveness. It’s a shame. —Nirmala Sitharaman, FM

Bid to target plenary session

The intention is to impact the upcoming plenary session where a roadmap for 2024 election will be discussed. ChhattisgarhCM

The Congress also raised questions over the timing of the raids and termed them “third-rate politics of vengeance, vendetta and harassment”, inviting rebuttals from Sitharaman, who said the Congress should not speak on corruption as it had gone out of power on issues related to corruption. She asserted that the probe agencies investigated only when they had prima facie evidence. “The Congress should not speak on corruption at all and then bring in the angle of vindictiveness. It’s a shame,” she told reporters in Jaipur.

At a news conference in Delhi, senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera said the ED stood for “Exterminating Democracy” and “Eliminating Democracy”. “If anything, these raids have increased our determination.

If anything, these raids have given us a booster dose to be even more aggressive against the Prime Minister and his third-rate politics of vengeance, vendetta and harassment,” Jairam Ramesh said.

Addressing reporters in Raipur, Baghel called the raids “politically motivated”. “The intention is to impact the Congress’s upcoming plenary session where a roadmap for the 2024 General Election will be discussed,” The Chhattisgarh CM said with AICC general secretary in-charge of the state Kumari Selja present.

AICC media department chief Pawan Khera said the leaders whose premises were raided included party treasurer Ram Gopal Aggarwal, Bhilai MLA Devendra Yadav and party functionaries Girish Dewangan, RP Singh and Vinod Tiwari, who are chairpersons of various boards and corporations.

Khera said against 112 ED raids in the 10 years of the UPA government, the BJP regime’s eight years had seen 3,010.

Meanwhile, Jairam Ramesh said 17 opposition parties had last August resolved to file a review petition to challenge the SC judgment upholding the Amendments (which gave more teeth to ED) to the PMLA, 2002. Lawyer Kapil Sibal will be requested to take the initiative regarding filing the petition, Ramesh said.

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