Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said on February 20, at a media event in Jaipur that there was no revenge politics in the raids conducted in Chhattisgarh. The minister told reporters that the Congress does not care about India’s progress. She did, however, express concern for the family and the dynasty. Congress had also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of retaliatory politics.
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The Finance Minister also stated that Congress has no right to speak on the issue of corruption because they have lost their power over it. She also stated that the investigation agency should do their “homework” and proceed only after receiving the necessary material.
The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at nearly a dozen locations in Chhattisgarh on Monday, including the homes of Congress MLAs, as a part of its ongoing money laundering inquiry into the coal levy case.
The ED claims that the profits were diverted to party funds and other individuals and that the funds were used in the Khairagarh by-polls.
According to ED sources, the state Congress treasurer was being searched because he received money at the party office.
Meanwhile, in response to the raids, CM Baghel took to Twitter, saying, “The BJP is dissatisfied with the success of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and the exposure of the truth about Adani. This raid is an attempt to divert attention away from the situation. The country is aware of the truth. We will fight and triumph.”
As per sources, the ED has supporting documentation that treasurer Ram Gopal Agarwal received Rs 52 crore as a result of the search.
They claimed that the ED was also looking into tenders for Aari Dongri mines, which produce high-value iron ore, and a company controlled by a Congress treasurer.
Nirmala Sitharaman words on politics..
The raids take place just a few days before the Congress’ 85th plenary session in Raipur, which will be attended by top Congress leaders such as party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra. The three-day plenary session will be held in Raipur from February 24-26.
On this, the Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge, had stated that 95% of ED raids in the last nine years have targeted opposition politicians, the majority of whom are members of Congress. Before the Congress’s plenary session, Kharge called the ED raids “hypocrisy of the BJP,” saying the saffron party’s nervousness was visible due to the “overwhelming success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
These raids have only strengthened our resolve. “If anything, these raids have energized us to be even more aggressive against the prime minister and his third-rate politics of vengeance, vendetta, and harassment,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told reporters in Delhi.
Sitaraman hit back at the Congress, alleging it is only “concerned about the welfare of family, dynasty and party”. According to the Minister, in Parliament, Congress leaders make accusations but then leave without hearing a response.
“The Congress should either learn not to walk out of the House so that they can take the PM’s response, or even when they hurl accusations, they should throw them with credible evidence rather than spit and run’ tactics,” she said.
She accused the Congress Government of impeding the country’s progress due to partisan politics.
