'Modi Govt Should Make Public ED's Rate List': Oppn Slams BJP Amid Central Agencies' Raids Across India

The leaders of the opposition have attacked the BJP and took a jibe at the party asking it to public "ED's rate list", amid ongoing raids by the agency.

The opposition leaders on Friday intensified their attack on the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Central government saying it should public the "rate list" of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the probe agency raided 25 locations across Rajasthan as part of its money laundering investigation into the implementation of the Centre's 'Jal Jeevan Mission'.

On Thursday, the federal agency conducted raids at premises linked to Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand. ED on Friday raided locations linked to 'Jal Jeevan Mission' implementation case whereas the Income Tax department conducted searches in various locations linked to late DMK leader  Vasugi Murugesan's house in Tamil Nadu. 

ED has also registered a case against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MLA Ravindra Waikar in connection with the alleged construction of a luxury hotel on Jogeshwari BMC land involved in a scam, ANI reported. It said that ED may issue a summon to him and the other accused for questioning.

The Congress party took to X, formerly Twitter, and said the PM Narendra Modi-led government should make the ED's "rate list" public. 

"Modi government should make the rate list of ED public. If the rate list of small level officers is Rs 15 lakh, then what will be the rate of officers above them?" party spokesperson Pawan Khera said.

Calling the agencies PM Modi's "toolkit", he said, "ED, CBI, IT all are 'government campaigners' of BJP. They are given the target to scare the opposition leaders and make them join BJP."

In a press conference, Khera said, "They - ED, CBI and Income Tax Department - are not your (PM Modi) frontline warriors that you send them and later JP Nadda is sent to induct (opposition leaders) into the BJP." 

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that ED's focus has shifted away from economic offenders to politicians. "Agencies such as CBI, Income Tax Department and ED are premier agencies of the country. However, the focus (of these agencies) has now shifted to politicians instead of economic offenders," he said.

On the other hand, Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand called ED raids at his premises a "conspiracy". "This (raid) is a part of the conspiracy against the AAP leaders. As a part of this conspiracy, a 23-hour raid (by ED) was conducted at my residence," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal skipped ED's summons in the liquor policy case. BJP attacked the CM for giving summons a miss.

However, Delhi minister Gopal Rai objected to BJP's response instead of the ED. "Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal today responded to ED summon, but instead of the probe agency, a BJP spokesperson replied to it. How a BJP spokesperson is related to the ED summon and Kejriwal's reply to it?" the minister added. 

MoS Home and BJP leader Nityanand Rai has now equated Kejriwal with "lies, corruption and scams". "The law and the central agencies are doing their work. Why does he have a problem with it? He only tries to mislead people..." he said.

ED conducted a raid on Friday in Jaipur and Dausa including the premises of the Additional Chief Secretary in the Public Health Engineering Department, Subodh Agarwal. According to ANI, the agency also searched the premises of some engineers, contractors and former state government officials suspected to have links in the case 'Jal Jeevan Mission' case.