BJP using its 'right hand' ED as blackmailing tactic to intimidate opposition: Mehbooba

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti also justified the Bihar caste survey, saying it will show how much the poor and backward people have benefited in the past.

Jamm:PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday accused the BJP-led central government of "using" the Enforcement Directorate against leaders of the INDIA alliance as a "blackmailing tactic" to intimidate the opposition. Mufti also justified the Bihar caste survey, saying it will show how much the poor and backward people have benefited in the past.

"This (government) has failed on all grounds. Poor people have reached a state of consuming poison. In this situation, the ED has become the BJP's right hand. It has failed to face the opposition. It is afraid of the INDIA alliance. It is using the ED," the Peoples Democratic Party leader said. "This is a blackmailing tactic of the BJP to intimidate the opposition," she told reporters here.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday morning raided AAP MP Sanjay Singh's home in connection with a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy. This is to divert the people's attention from the failures of the BJP government on all fronts, including employment generation, controlling inflation and ensuring women's security, she said.

Mehbooba also took a dig at the raids conducted on the online news portal NewsClick and said it was being done as "they are afraid of facing the truth". "This is the same process of their tactics of using ED," she added. On the caste census, Mehbooba said it would show how much the poor and backward people benefited in the past.