ED raids against Congress leaders lead to political slugfest in Rajasthan ahead of Assembly polls

Enforcement Directorate’s raids on the premises of two Congress leaders as part of a money laundering probe, and a summons issued to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son, led to a political slugfest with Mr. Gehlot accusing the BJP-led Union government of using the Enforcement Directorate like “swarms of locusts”

The Enforcement Directorate’s raids on the premises of two Congress leaders as part of a money laundering probe, and a summons issued to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son, led to a political slugfest on Thursday ahead of the State’s Assembly election. Mr. Gehlot accused the BJP-led Union government of using the Enforcement Directorate (ED) like “swarms of locusts”.

The ED conducted raids at State Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra’s residences in Jaipur and Sikar, and at Om Prakash Hudla’s hotel in Dausa district’s Mahuwa, where he has been fielded as the Congress candidate for the upcoming poll. The raids were part of the ED’s investigation of the leak of a general knowledge question paper in the senior teacher grade II competitive examination of 2022.

The summons issued to Vaibhav Gehlot in a foreign exchange violation case asked him to depose before the ED at its headquarters in New Delhi on October 27. This case pertains to a Rajasthan-based hospitality group, whose promoter had earlier been the junior Mr. Gehlot’s business partner in a car rental company. The ED reportedly wants to record Mr. Vaibhav Gehlot’s statement under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

The raids led to tension in the State capital and Congress party workers staged massive protests in both Jaipur and Sikar, raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While an armed escort of the Central Reserve Police Force accompanied the ED teams, the State police force was also deployed on the roads to keep the situation under control.

The ED had earlier arrested several people, including former Rajasthan Public Service Commission member Babulal Katara, and seized properties and cash worth crores of rupees in the paper leak case. The accused had allegedly provided the question paper to candidates appearing in the exam for ₹8 lakh to ₹10 lakh each.

Addressing a hurriedly called press conference, the Chief Minister slammed the BJP government at the Centre, accusing it of unleashing terror in the country. “They are misusing the Central investigating agencies to target Congress leaders because of the fear of BJP’s defeat in the Assembly polls. The raids were made without any complaint having been made to the ED,” he said.

Mr. Ashok Gehlot said that the BJP was targeting him through the ED raids because it had failed to topple his government in 2020. Moreover, raids were happening wherever elections were held, he said, including in States such as Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh, where the Congress had won despite the misuse of Central agencies.