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CBI, ED raids in Punjab: AAP alleges political vendetta
AAP state president and cabinet minister Aman Arora said that central agencies were being systematically misused to target opposition voices and governments that refuse to bow down
Chandigarh
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday reacted strongly to raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a minister, officials and real estate developers in the state, alleging that the action was nothing but political vendetta driven by the BJP-led central government.
AAP state president and cabinet minister Aman Arora said that central agencies were being systematically misused to target opposition voices and governments that refuse to bow down. “The BJP is openly using agencies like the CBI and ED to serve its political interests instead of ensuring justice and transparency. The raids are politically motivated and aimed at pressuring Punjab’s governance system,” he told the media. Arora added that any investigation must follow due process and established protocol.
Arora criticised the central government for bypassing coordination mechanisms, asserting that Punjab could not be intimidated or controlled like other states.
Cabinet minister Balbir Singh alleged that the central government first carried out a “surgical strike”, targeting one Rajya Sabha MP and one minister.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Tuesday blamed the AAP government for creating a situation where central agencies are finding an excuse to intervene.
At the same time, he added, it is difficult to miss the “chronology of events” which perfectly fits into the BJP’s standard pre-poll exercise in election-bound states. Referring to the CBI action against the Punjab Vigilance Bureau, he said that everyone in the state, particularly the opposition parties, know how the bureau was misused against them during the last four years.
