TMC accuses ED of targeting Opposition
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is being used as a “political weapon” against opposition parties and questioned why the agency had not acted on allegations of financial irregularities in the Ram Temple Trust.
Addressing a press conference here, TMC leaders Sagarika Ghose and Mahua Moitra alleged that while the ED froze the bank accounts of Opposition parties, it failed to initiate action over allegations against the Ram Temple Trust.
“If the ED is truly impartial, why has it not acted in cases involving allegations against leaders in BJP-ruled States?... If serious allegations have emerged against the Ram Temple Trust, why has the ED not initiated action? If such allegations had arisen in an Opposition-ruled State, the ED would have immediately registered a PMLA case,” Ghose said.
Moitra reiterated the party’s demand for a court-monitored investigation, saying millions of devotees donated to the temple in good faith. “If the authorities can freeze the bank accounts of Opposition political parties, they should also be prepared to freeze the funds connected with the Ram Temple Trust while the allegations are investigated. There cannot be one standard for the Opposition and another for institutions associated with the ruling establishment,” she said.
She alleged that if there had been any misuse of donations, “it is not merely financial wrongdoing — it is a betrayal of the faith of ordinary devotees.”
Ghose alleged that constitutional institutions such as the Election Commission and the ED were being used to weaken the Opposition.
“The BJP wants to create a one-party state by eliminating every Opposition party... The ED is no longer functioning as an impartial agency. Since 2014, around 95 per cent of ED cases have been registered against opposition leaders,” she claimed.
Speaking on West Bengal politics, Moitra alleged that the BJP Government’s implementation of welfare schemes would result in a sharp reduction in beneficiaries under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme.
She claimed that while around 2.4 crore women were receiving assistance under the scheme earlier, the budgetary allocation made by the BJP Government would cover only about 1.3 crore beneficiaries.
“The figures simply do not add up. When you allocate a budget that cannot possibly cover all the existing beneficiaries, it becomes evident that a large-scale reduction was always planned,” she alleged.
Replying to questions on the Centre’s rollout of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in West Bengal, Moitra claimed that the state’s Swasthya Sathi scheme offered universal health coverage, unlike Ayushman Bharat, which she alleged had several eligibility restrictions.
The TMC also criticised the police over the alleged encounter of an accused in the recent rape and murder of a child in West Bengal, questioning the circumstances under which he was killed.
“What has happened in this encounter appears like a fairy tale. You took one of the main accused... for crime reconstruction at night, and then claimed he escaped after snatching a weapon. What kind of policing is this?” Moitra said.
She also questioned the arrest of CPI(M) leaders for protesting against the killing, saying democratic assertion should not be criminalised.
Ghose also alleged that law and order had “collapsed” in West Bengal and claimed that TMC workers were attacked in Baruipur.
“The manner in which Trinamool Congress workers are being assaulted is something we have never witnessed before in Bengal. It reflects a complete breakdown of law and order under the present administration,” she said.
