Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday accused the Modi government of strangling democracy with the help of agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (IT) department.
Commenting on the political development in Maharashtra, Baghel said the leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party were compelled to defect after being threatened by the federal agencies.
Switching over to BJP is like going through a washing machine, he said. Leaders who were earlier targeted by the federal agencies were "cleaned" with this washing machine, he said.
"We have seen this multiple times, be it West Bengal, Assam or Maharashtra, the leaders who switched over to BJP were given a clean chit by the agencies," Baghel said.
Elections are nearing in Chhattisgarh and it is inevitable that the agencies would now target leaders from the state in order to dent their image and to do "political assassination at the behest of the Modi government", he said.