E-Paper
4 raids and CBI found nothing: Mahua Moitra writes to EC against 'smear campaign'
Mahua Moitra said the timing of the CBI raids raised suspicion that the CBI was ‘dancing to the tunes of political dicta’.
Trinamool leader Mahua Moitra on Sunday wrote to the Election Commission against the consecutive four raids on her various properties in West Bengal by the CBI and said the poll body should create a framework of CBI conduct during the model code of conduct. The CBI on Saturday conducted searches at Mahua Moitra's addresses in Kolkata, Krishnanagar and Karimpur in connection with the alleged cash-for-query case for which she was expelled from the last Lok Sabha.
"Two out of the four premises where the illegal raids were carried out by the CBI were admittedly used for official purposes and the same is evident from the CBI's own 'Search List(s)', wherein it has acknowledged that one property in the election campaigning office and the other is my MP office. Hence there is no doubt that the CBi was unequivocally aware that their actions were targetted to throttle my election campaign efforts and to thereby illegally harass me," Mahua wrote.
Though the CBI left empty-handed, Mahua added, the raids created a furore across media platforms and thus created doubt and contempt about her. "needless to mention, such smear campaign perpetrated by the CBI has solely and unjustly enriched my political opponents at my cost and peril," Mahua wrote.
The Trinamool candidate from Krishnanagar said she understood that CBI needed to conduct investigations but she questioned the timing and methodology which creates "a sufficient amount of suspicion that they are dancing to the tunes of political dicta".
Calling the situation unprecedented and supervening, Mahua reminded the Election Commission that the poll body took proactive steps to ensure a level playing field for all political parties. " For this purpose, a central investigating agency which is under the control of the ruling dispensation at the Centre must be appropriately saddled to ensure that in the name of investigation they are not carrying out political bidding which favour the party in power at the Centre," Mahua wrote.
