‘Who am I to save anyone?': Baghel on raids in Chhattisgarh remark for hosting Jharkhand MLAs

The BJP-led Centre has been facing the wrath of opposition parties for alleged misuse of the federal agencies like ED and CBI, especially in light of recent raids in non-BJP led state governments, like in Bengal and Delhi.

Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday sidestepped questions about his remark on speculating raids by central agencies for hosting Jharkhand's ruling camp MLAs in the state and said: “Who am I to save anyone?”

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on hosting Jharkhand's ruling camp MLAs in his state. (HT Photo)

Baghel's latest comment comes two days after the chief minister said in a presser that he was expecting raids in the coming days by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax department (I-T) for having “welcomed them (the Jharkhand MLAs) with open arms” amid BJP’s alleged attempts to poach them and oust CM Hemant Soren.

“Who am I to save anyone? ...They are guests in my state,” Baghel told media persons in Raipur, in the backdrop of announcing three new districts in Chhattisgarh.

CM Baghel had earlier slammed the BJP saying that the party cannot tolerate opposition so they “resort to various tactics and use their power and money to scare” them. “They have a bag full of money and try to poach the leaders of the opposition parties,” he had said.

On August 30, amid political uncertainty over reports whether Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren could be disqualified as a legislator or not, 31 MLAs and ministers of the ruling coalition in Jharkhand arrived in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur in an apparent effort by Soren to keep his flock together.

The ruling coalition in Jharkhand includes JMM, Congress and RJD. It was reported that those who went to Raipur included 13 from Congress including four ministers and 18 MLAs of JMM.