Opposition parties on Tuesday slammed the Government over the Income Tax department’s survey operations at the BBC offices as “heights of dictatorship” and “intimidation tactics”.
While the Congress termed as “intimidation tactics” the Income Tax survey operation at the BBC offices and alleged that the action shows that the Modi Government is scared of criticism, the CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury took a swipe at the Prime Minister over the phrase “mother of democracy”, a term often used by Modi to highlight the country’s democratic ethos.
“Time and again, there has been an assault on freedom of Press under the Modi Government. This is done with brazen and unapologetic vengeance to strangulate remotely critical voices. No democracy can survive if institutions are used to attack the Opposition and the media. People will resist this,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said in a tweet.
Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the Government is intolerant towards the media questioning them. “Media now does what the PM wants. The IT raids are being conducted to scare the BBC into submission. What stopped the Income Tax dept all these years? Everyone knows agencies are being manipulated to work for the Modi Government. History will remember the role of agencies,” Chaturvedi said.
Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh said that while the party is demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe on the Adani issue, the “Government is after the BBC”. He also used a Hindi idiom to attack the Government, saying “Vinash Kale, Viprit Buddhi” (When doom approaches, a person’s intellect works against his interest).
The Aam Aadmi Party alleged that the IT actions show that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached the “heights of dictatorship”.
“First, imposed a ban on the BBC documentary. Now raids at their offices. Don’t forget Modi ji, Hitler’s dictatorship also came to an end. Your dictatorship will also end,” AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who is also the party’s national spokesperson, said in a tweet in Hindi, reacting sharply to the survey.
In her reaction, TMC MP Mahua Moitra asked if the “raids” on the BBC offices would be followed by one on “Mr A” in an apparent dig at Adani Group chief Gautam Adani. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti alleged that it was “brazen hounding” of “those who speak the truth” by the BJP-led Government.