– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: The Congress party mounted a robust defence of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to settle political scores. The party alleged that the recent ED action against the Chief Minister was an act of retaliation, following the BJP’s defeat in Karnataka in the May 2023 elections.
At a press conference held at All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, party leaders Jairam Ramesh, General Secretary in-charge of communications, and Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Chairman of the Congress’s Legal Department, condemned the ED’s actions, labelling it a clear case of political vendetta.
Dr. Singhvi claimed that ED has essentially become an “Election Department” for the BJP, functioning to “demolish” political opponents. “The ED is being weaponized to bully, intimidate, and bulldoze an elected Chief Minister,” Singhvi stated. He further noted that of the cases registered by ED against political leaders, 95 percent were against those in opposition to the BJP.
Singhvi highlighted that BJP had frequently used ED as a tool to coerce opposition leaders into defecting to the ruling party. Of the 25 political figures facing ED scrutiny who later joined the BJP, 23 saw their cases either dismissed or shelved. Singhvi sarcastically remarked that the BJP had moved from the “washing machine” tactic – where defectors’ legal troubles vanish – to a “time machine,” where decades-old cases are revived for political gain.
Pointing to the swiftness with which ED initiated action against Siddaramaiah, Singhvi questioned how the agency could possibly have established grounds for money laundering in just a few days after the Karnataka High Court upheld the Governor’s sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister. He suggested that the timing and haste were deliberate attempts to harass and undermine Siddaramaiah’s leadership.
The case in question dates back to 2022, when Siddaramaiah was an opposition MLA and his wife was allocated plots of land as compensation for property acquired from her. Singhvi dismissed the case as politically motivated.
Addressing reporters, Jairam Ramesh described ED’s action as an attack not only on Siddaramaiah but also on the people of Karnataka, whose elected Chief Minister was being targeted. “The BJP is using ED and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to threaten and intimidate since they couldn’t secure enough MLAs in Karnataka,” Ramesh said.
Ramesh further alleged that from the moment Siddaramaiah took office, the central government, including Prime Minister Modi and the Union Home Minister, had actively obstructed the implementation of the Congress party’s guarantees to the people of Karnataka.
“This is another chapter in the BJP’s vendetta politics, but the Chief Minister has made it clear that he will fight these false charges and emerge unscathed,” Ramesh affirmed. “We will not be intimidated or deterred. All promises made to the people will be fulfilled.”
He pointed out that between 2016 and 2022, the BJP-led central government had destabilized and replaced ten elected state governments. He criticized the BJP’s push for “One Nation, One Election,” calling it a strategy for “One Nation, One Election, One Party.”
