ED raids premises of Cong leaders in C’garh

Partyclaimsvendetta politics,Sitharaman rejectscharge

NEW

DELHI/RAIPUR,

FEB 20 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Monday conducted raids at over a dozen locations in Chhattisgarh including at premises linked to state Congress leaders as part of an ongoing probe into the alleged coal levy scam, officials said.

The raids that were underway over 12 hours after they were launched early this morning come days before the start of the three-day plenary session of the Congress party which is in power in the state. The three-day session begins on February 24 in Raipur.

The Congress and state Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel cried foul over the raids calling it “vendetta politics” by the Centre, a charge rejected by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Congress also raised questions over the timing of the raids.

The Congress described the searches as an example of “third-rate politics” of “vendetta, vengeance and harassment”, and asserted that the party will not be intimidated by such “tactics”.

Hitting back, Sitharaman said the Congress should not speak on corruption as it lost power on the issue and asserted that the probe agencies do their homework and investigate only when they have necessary prima facie evidence.

“The Congress should not speak on corruption at all and then bring in the angle of vindictiveness. It’s a shame,” she told reporters in Jaipur.

At a news conference in Delhi, senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera said the ED stands for ‘Exterminating Democracy’ and “Eliminating Democracy”. According to officials, the locations where searches are still underway included those of MLA Devendra Yadav in Bhilai (Durg dis- trict), Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal, chairman of Chhattisgarh State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board Sushil Sunny Agrawal and party’s state spokesperson RP Singh in Raipur.

The raids also covered some other ruling party leaders, they said.

Offficials said the ED is investigating those who have been the “beneficiaries” of the proceeds of crime of the alleged coal levy scam perpetrated during the tenure of the current government.

The ED investigation relates to “a massive scam in which an illegal levy of Rs 25 was being extorted for every tonne of coal trans-

Rahul attacks Adani in social media video; takes ‘Mitr-kaal’ jibe at govt

NEW DELHI, FEB 20

(PTI): Questioning the allocation of contracts for airports to the Adani group, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the billionaire industrialist benefited from the central government’s “magic” and asserted that he was not against businesses but the creation of monopolies.

In a five-minute video titled ‘Mitr-kaal’ released on his social media accounts, Gandhi said his remarks in Parliament on the “truth” about the businessman were expunged and removed from the records.

“The magic of the ‘fakir’ - took the airport out of his bag and handed it over in Adani’s hands,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

“I talked the truth about the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Adani and how India’s wealth was being ‘looted’. But all my remarks and the truth were removed from the records of Parliament ... my remarks were expunged,” he alleged in the video.

“This story is about the ‘kabza-raaj’ (control) during ‘Mitr-kaal’. Control