New Delhi: Ahead of the upcoming Punjab assembly elections 2022, Senior Akali politician Bikram Singh Majithia slammed Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the Congress on Saturday, only days after a large quantity of cash was recovered from his nephew's home during ED searches.


He also blamed him for illicit sand mining in his Rupnagar district seat of Chamkaur Sahib and urged a CBI investigation, PTI reported.


Taking on the Congress for submitting a protest with the Election Commission of India about the latest ED searches, Majithia said that the ruling party should have questioned the recovery of crores of rupees from Channi's nephew's home.


"Instead of complaining to the ECI over the misuse of central agencies, the Congress should have explained how a huge sum of money was seized from the premises of Channi's nephew," Majithia was quoted by PTI in its report.


He inquired why the Congress party defended Bhupinder Singh Honey, the chief minister's nephew accused of heading an illicit mining ring.


Meanwhile, Alka Lamba, All India Congress Committee (AICC) media in charge of Punjab elections, dismissed Majithia's charges as "baseless."


Majithia attempted to demonstrate Honey's proximity to Channi using numerous alleged images and claimed Honey had even been assigned protection.


With the chief minister being in charge of the mining and environment ministries, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader said that there was a conflict of interest and that "Channi has no moral right to stay in office."


ED Claims It Confiscated Rs 10 Crore Cash, Including Aprrox Rs 8 Crore From CM Channi's Cousin During The Raid


The Enforcement Directorate claimed on Wednesday that it confiscated more than Rs 10 crore in cash during searches in connection with an anti-money laundering probe into illicit sand mining activities in the poll-bound state, including roughly Rs 8 crore from Channi's cousin.


Congress filed a complaint with the ECI on Thursday, requesting strong action against Enforcement Directorate employees who conducted unlawful and malicious raids to tarnish Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the present state administration.


Majithia also urged an investigation into illicit sand mining in Channi's home constituency of Chamkaur Sahib, particularly on forest land, accusing the chief minister of looting the state exchequer.


'Total Loot By Channi In His 111 Days Tenure Will Be More Than Rs 1,111 Crore': Majithia


"The total loot by Channi in his 111 days' tenure will be more than Rs 1,111 crore," alleged Majithia.


The senior Akali leader also purportedly revealed audio recordings purporting to indicate that the chief minister and his nephew were involved in the illegal sand mining enterprise.


He said that Salapur village Sarpanch Iqbal Singh and his son Binder were engaging in illegal sand mining at Channi's request.


According to Majithia, the audio recordings were made by Darshan Singh, who befriended members of the sand mafia in order to expose them.


Channi Alleged Former CM Amarinder Singh & Majithia Were Involved In 'This Conspiracy'


Channi had denied the claims against him and accused the BJP-led federal government of planning a "conspiracy" to "trap" him in the case, in which the ED conducted searches throughout the state.


He further claimed that previous Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Majithia were involved in "this conspiracy."


(With PTI Inputs)