Issue to be raised in Parl today, Didi urges non-BJP CMs to unite
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar have accused the Centre of using probe agencies to target Opposition parties.
Mamata has called upon the non-BJP Chief Ministers to unite against the Government’s alleged “misuse of Central agencies” to victimise the leaders of Opposition parties. Pawar has backed her stand and said they will raise the issue in Parliament on Wednesday.
Urging her counterparts to join her in a meeting she has written: “The need of the hour is for all progressive forces in this country to come together and fight this oppressive force.”
The letter was written on March 27, a day after the CBI started investigating the Rampurhat burning and mass murder case.
Backing Mamata’s appeal for a united fight against the BJP for misuse of Central agencies, Pawar said, “We will take up the issue in Parliament tomorrow. We shall see what we can do together in this regard.”
Earlier, speaking at the national executive meeting of the Nationalist Youth Congress, Pawar accused the BJP of using raids by Central investigating agencies to target Opposition leaders for political vendetta.
“Those in power today believe that those who do not share their ideology are enemies. CBI/ED raids have become commonplace and used for political vendetta to trouble political opponents,” he said, referring to the raids on his party colleagues Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik.
“There is something or the other going against every leader of the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena... Prime Minister Narendra Modi has one thing in mind: he wants BJP rule from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, irrespective of the wishes of the people,” Pawar said.
On ‘The Kashmir Files’ film, the NCP chief accused Modi of fomenting communal troubles by promoting a movie that stokes anger among people instead of healing age-old wounds.
Asking the non-saffron leaders to “commit to the cause of a unified and principled Opposition that will make way for the Government that our country deserves”, Mamata wrote, “Central agencies such as the ED, CBI, CVC, and the income tax department are being used to target, harass and corner political opponents across the country for vendetta.”
Alleging that these agencies are always used by the Centre when elections are round the corner, Mamata said, “It is amply clear that the BJP-ruled States get a free pass from these agencies to paint a rosy picture of their hollow governance. We believe in transparency and accountability in governance but we will not tolerate the vindictive politics of the BJP that has led to a political witchhunt.”
Referring to the Delhi Special Police (Amendment) Bill 2021 and CVC (Amendment) Bill 2021, she said that these had been done to provide additional five years’ extension to the CBI and ED violating the Supreme Court directives. Her letter comes in the backdrop of ED summoning her nephew and Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in a money laundering case related to coal and cattle scam.
Abhishek on Tuesday avoided appearance at the ED office in Delhi.