MVA, BJP lock horns over ED action on Uddhav Thackeray’s kin

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that the Central agencies were being misused for political interests.

Mumbai: A war of words has erupted between the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached the properties of Shridhar Madhav Patankar, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s brother-in-law. Backing Shiv Sena, the MVA allies have slammed the Centre, while BJP leaders said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not indulge in vendetta politics and that the agency was doing its job.

Sena leader and chief spokesperson, Sanjay Raut said the Centre’s attempt to target opposition through the central agencies will not yield positive results. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that the Central agencies were being misused for political interests. “The misuse of these central agencies is one of the important issues at present. Their actions clearly show there is a programme to harass certain people due to political or other motives,” said Pawar attacking the Centre.

Sena leader and chief spokesperson, Sanjay Raut said the Centre’s attempt to target opposition through the central agencies will not yield positive results. “They (BJP) are pained that two big states have gone out of their hands. The central agencies are being misused in Maharashtra and West Bengal, but they will not be successful,” Raut said in Nagpur.

While NCP MP Supriya Sule said that agencies were selectively targetting politicians, those who faced allegations were left alone after joining BJP. Sule said the attempt to target Patankar was yet another attempt to misuse central agencies. “The funny thing is that when a politician, who is on the radar of central agencies, goes to the BJP, they become clean and if they are with the opposition, they are ‘dirty’,” she said.

Sule further said, “If PM wants to make the country corruption-free, I welcome it, but it cannot happen selectively. If raids are to happen, they must happen across all parties. How does investigation stop when a leader joins BJP after being probed by agencies when they were in other parties. This is not fair. I expect the Prime Minister to be fair.”

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole questioned the ED about the status of cases registered against Narayan Rane and Kripashankar Singh. “BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had levelled allegations against union minister Narayan Rane and former state minister Kripashankar Singh in the past. No action was taken after the leaders joined the BJP. The action against the leaders from MVA or their kin is an attempt to divert the attention of the people from the contentious issues like inflation, fuel price hike, among others,” he said.

Former chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that the prime minister does not act in a spiteful manner. “I can only say that our leader [Narendra] Modi ji does not indulge in vendetta politics. Under his governance, no central agency will act in vengeance. At the same time, the leaders here must see how the action is being taken against Pravin Darekar, how conspiracies are hatched along with the public prosecutor.”

Similarly, BJP’s state unit chief Chandrakant Patil said, “The action taken by the central agency was concerning the old case dating back to 2017. The central agency should be allowed to conduct its probe. There is no reason to be scared if no wrong has been done.”