New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hit back at opposition claims – that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is using central agencies to target rivals, especially before elections – saying only three percent of the Enforcement Directorate's cases are linked to politicians .
“Let me tell you a fact that isn't talked about much. Of the corruption cases investigated by the ED, only three percent are against people linked to politics. The remaining 97 percent of cases are linked to civil servants and criminals,” the spokesperson said. The Prime Minister, in an exclusive interaction with Hindi outlet Hindustan, said:
The Prime Minister also underlined his anti-corruption stand, saying, “Eradicating corruption has been a top priority of our government for a decade,” and refuted the opposition's claim that action is being taken only against rival political leaders or in non-BJP ruled states. . “Steps are being taken even in states where the BJP is in power,” he said.
“The stories you have heard – that it is only political corruption that we are after – are being spread by people who are under the sword of investigative authorities,” he stated.
Modi's government has come under heavy fire following the ED's action against senior opposition leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia. Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha and ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren were also arrested.
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Mr Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party and Mr Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha are both members of the Congress-led opposition bloc INDIA, while the BRS is led by former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (K Kavitha is his daughter ), who is seen as a fierce critic of the BJP.
Following the AAP chief's arrest on March 21 – weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections – the INDIA bloc launched a fierce attack on Prime Minister Modi's party, claiming it had acted out of fear.
Mr Kejriwal – who will be in jail till Monday – argued against his arrest in the Delhi High Court, saying his arrest was timed to disrupt the AAP's election campaign in Delhi and Punjab. His allies – Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi – have lashed out at the BJP and Mr Modi.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, also a member of INDIA, and veteran Sharad Pawar of the Tamil Nadu Nationalist Congress Party also responded; Mr Pawar condemned the “vindictive misuse of central agencies to attack the opposition, especially with general elections looming”.
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However, the Center has dismissed such claims, stressing that the agencies concerned are acting independently and in line with the Prime Minister's aim of eradicating corruption at all levels.
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The Prime Minister, who routinely attacks the opposition, especially the Congress, over allegations of corruption and accuses the party of nepotism, also shared data to show the increased and varied scale of the Enforcement Directorate's crackdown since 2014, when the BJP came to power for the first time. .
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“The ED has also arrested many corrupt officers,” the Prime Minister said.
“Assets worth thousands of crores have been seized (belonging to) corrupt bureaucrats and criminals linked to illicit financing and drug dealers. Before 2014, the ED seized assets worth just Rs 5,000 crore, while in the last decade that amount has increased to over Rs 1 trillion.”
The Prime Minister welcomed the increased amount of money seized — “Rs 34 lakh in cash before 2014 and over Rs 2,200 crore under our government” — and pointed out that the funds could be used for the people.
“Imagine… if this money were invested in social services for the poor, how many would benefit… how many opportunities could be created for the youth… infrastructure projects could be launched.”
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