Thane (Maharashtra): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the CBI, ED, Election Commission of India and other government agencies have become weapons of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said that they are under BJP's control but not working in the interests of the nation any more and they are being used on opponents everywhere.
On the 62nd day of his Bharat Jodo Nyayatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reached Ambadi in Bhiwandi taluka in Thane district of Maharashtra on Friday afternoon. During his yatra, Rahul Gandhi greeted the people and addressing meetings. He strongly criticized the BJP government in the meeting at Bhiwandi.
Referring to the 'misuse' of central agencies, Rahul Gandhi gave a serious warning to the BJP leaders saying that serious action will be taken in future that such misuse will not happen again.
Addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi described the electoral bonds scheme as the world's biggest extortion racket and the funds obtained from the scheme are being used to split rival political parties and also to dislodge the other parties' governments in different states. He called it a 'brainchild" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He claimed that Congress' central election committee and party president Mallikarjun Kharge would decide if he should contest the Lok Sabha election from Amethi, he said in reply to a question.
"Some years ago, the prime minister claimed to have designed the electoral bonds (scheme) to clean up the political finance system. It turns out that this was the way of extorting money from India's largest corporates. It was meant to intimidate corporates into giving money to the BJP....It is the largest extortion racket in the world....I hope investigation takes place," he said.
To a question about some companies donating electoral bonds to the Congress and getting contracts in the states run by the party's governments, Gandhi said none of the governments run by opposition parties controlled contracts at the national level such as highway and defence contracts, nor did they control central probe agencies like Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate or put `Pegasus' (surveillance software) in people's phones.
"There is no correlation between the contracts given in the states run by the Congress, and the funding given to us....This is a criminal extortion from corporate India, and every single corporate knows this. Months after contracts were given, the companies have donated electoral bonds to the BJP. CBI, ED file cases, and then corporates give money to the BJP," he alleged.
The scheme was meant to allow corporates to donate money anonymously, Gandhi said. "Some companies never donated money to the BJP (earlier), but after the CBI, ED cases were registered against them, they did," the Congress leader claimed.
"It is a huge theft orchestrated by the prime minister," he alleged, while also stating that "the electoral bonds scheme was the PM's brainchild." The BJP government at the Centre captured national institutions for indulging in corruption, Gandhi said, alleging further that, "funding for splitting parties like Shiv Sena and NCP, toppling opposition governments, was obtained through electoral bonds." Nothing can be more anti-national than this, the Congress leader said.
The ED and CBI have become BJP, RSS institutions, he claimed, adding that one day the BJP government will be displaced and such activities will be punished. "This is my guarantee that such things will never happen again," he said. To a question about the recent exit of state Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Milind Deora, he said the party in Maharashtra was intact despite their leaving.
Rahul Gandhi said that it is necessary to conduct a census and for that the Congress has been putting forth its demand. At the same time, it is necessary to conduct an economic survey with various organizations and powerful industries and it is necessary to study where to what extent the funds collected in the form of taxes are benefitting the common citizens.
Rahul Gandhi reiterated his party's commitment to eradicate poverty in the country by ensuring minimum income to every family. His yatra got a spontaneous response in the rural areas of Thane district. People cheered Rahul Gandhi, who accepted greetings from senior citizens, women, students and youth. On the occasion of this yatra, elaborate police arrangements were made everywhere and restrictions were imposed on traffic. (with PTI inputs)
