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Lok Sabha elections | Akhilesh Yadav says CBI, ED should be shut: ‘…agar sarkar banaani hai’
Akhilesh Yadav said he would propose shutting down the CBI and ED to the Opposition's INDIA bloc.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation are not required and should be shut down. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister also said he would propose it to the Opposition's INDIA bloc, The Indian Express reported.
“CBI aur ED band hone chahiye (the CBI and ED should be shut)… If you have cheated, there is the Income Tax department to deal with it. Why do you need the CBI? Every state has an anti-corruption department, use it if needed,” The Indian Express quoted Akhilesh Yadav as saying in an interview to with the newspaper. He also alleged that the central agencies are being used only against political adversaries of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Follow Live Updates on Lok Sabha elections 2024
“They are used agar sarkar banaani hai, ya giraani hai (to form governments, or break governments),” Akhilesh Yadav said.
The SP leader also asked why these probe agencies hadn't investigated “what went wrong during demonetisation”. “How did people convert their black money into white?”
When asked if an INDIA government would such a decision if it came to power, Akhilesh Yadav replied, “This is my proposal, and I will put this before the INDIA alliance.”
Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the electoral bond issue has exposed the BJP's extortion tactics, alleging that the saffron party engages in extortion by misusing ED and CBI raids.
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"The government has made extortion strategies, and now with the electoral bonds it has been proven that no one could have done extortion the way the BJP has done," said Akhilesh Yadav.
The Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh are being held in seven phases. Polling in the first four phases has already been completed. Polling for the remaining Lok Sabha seats will be held on May 20, May 25, and June 1. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.
In the 2019 general elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP won 62 out of 80 seats, and its ally Apna Dal (S) won two seats. Mayawati's BSP won 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP won five. The Congress party secured only one seat.
Union minister who are in the electoral fray in this phase are: Defence minister Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), minister of women and child development Smriti Irani (Amethi), minister of state for housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Mminister of state of consumer affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is also in the fray from Rae Bareli, which was represented by Sonia Gandhi.
