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CBI raids at former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s residence on Friday sparked a chain of volatile responses from the Opposition, which dubbed it “vendetta against political opponents”. The Congress warned that agencies and officers, who it alleged were “working at the behest of the ruling BJP” to target political opponents, will “be held accountable when the government changes”.
New CBI case
The CBI registered a new case against Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others over alleged irregularities in land allocation in Gurgaon in 2009 and carried out searches at 20 locations in Delhi-NCR on Friday. A team of officials from the agency arrived early morning at Hooda’s residence in Rohtak in Haryana.
The case is reportedly related to the alleged irregularities in land allotment in 2009, agency sources said. The Congress is alleging that the action has come just ahead of the January-28 Jind by-election. Sources close to Hooda said he was about to go to Jind for campaigning in favour of the party candidate Randeep Surjewala, when the CBI searched Hooda’s residence. Reacting to the searches, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the government is using multiple central investigating agencies to target leaders of Opposition in different States.
Mamata criticises raid
“So, the political vendetta continues. The BJP and its ‘allies’, comprising multiple government agencies, are harassing allies of Opposition from Kolkata to Delhi and beyond,” Banerjee tweeted.
She claimed the ruling BJP was “scared” and using the agencies in a “desperate” move.
“From Akhilesh Yadav to Behen Mayawati Ji, nobody is spared. Political vendetta by BJP. Are they scared? Are they desperate? One headless agency has now become spineless BJP,” she tweeted.
The Congress warned officials of various agencies to be ready to be held accountable.
‘Muzzling Opposition’
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah has a mindset of targeting his political opponents by defaming them with the objective of muzzling the voice of the Opposition and to tarnish the image of their tall leaders. We condemn in the strongest terms, the action today (Friday) in the form of raids on former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda with the sole purpose of defaming him,” Congress leader Anand Sharma said.
He also said the “ill-will” in the mind of the Prime Minister and BJP chief Amit Shah is clear and the timing is also very clear.
“They are converting India into a police State,” he alleged, adding “Democracies do not function like this. Only fascist governments and totalitarian do,” he said
“We are warning all concerned not to exceed their brief or act above the law. All officials must hear this that governments do not have permanency and they keep changing,” he said.
“It is certain that this government is rattled and Prime Minister is facing an imminent defeat. That is why such actions,” the Congress leader said.
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