‘Goondagardi’ Says Ashok Gehlot as ED Summons His Son, Raids Rajasthan Congress Chief

The chief minister’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot, has been summoned by the ED in connection with a FEMA case while the raids on state Congress chief Govind Singh Dostara are allegedly in connection with a paper leak case.

New Delhi: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Union government of “goondagardi” (hooliganism) after the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday issued summons to his son Vaibhav Gehlot and conducted raids on state Congress chief Govind Singh Dostara.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Gehlot said that on Wednesday (October 25) the Congress had launched guarantees for women of Rajasthan. On Thursday (October 26), the ED conducted raids on Dostara and issued summons to his son to appear before the agency.

“Now you can understand what I have been saying that ED’s Red Rose is taking place inside Rajasthan because BJP does not want women, farmers and poor in Rajasthan should get the benefit of the guarantees given by Congress,” he wrote in Hindi.

Along with his tweet, Gehlot also shared a copy of the summons allegedly issued to his son. The document said that Vaibhav Gehlot had been summoned under sections 37(1) and (3) of the FEMA, 1999 read with Section 131 (1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and Section 30 of the Code of Civil Procedure (1908).

The summons are linked to the recent ED raids against Rajasthan based hospitality group Triton Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd., Vardha Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and its directors and promoters Shiv Shankar Sharma, Rattan Kant Sharma and others, reported Press Trust of India.

The raids on Dostara in Sikar and Jaipur are in connection with a money laundering investigation into exam paper leak case. 

The ED had said that the accused in the case “in connivance with each other leaked the question paper of general knowledge of senior teacher grade II competitive examination, 2022 which was scheduled to be conducted by RPSC (Rajasthan Public Service Commission) on 21.12.2022, 22.12.2022 and 24.12.2022 and provided it to appearing candidates for the consideration amount of Rs 8-10 lakh per candidate,” reported  Press Trust of India.

Official sources said to the news agency that the ED is also searching the premises of Congress candidate from Mahua seat in Dausa, Omprakash Hudla, and some others.

Addressing a press conference at the party office in Jaipur, Gehlot said that on Wednesday the party had announced the ‘Gruha Lakshmi Yojana’ for women and providing gas cylinders for Rs 500.

“The situation that has been created is nothing to worry about. This is their misconception. We will give more guarantees. We will announce another 5 guarantees tomorrow. They can decide now where to raid next. This is the situation in a democracy, where a government, instead of winning the hearts of the people, instead uses its means, policies for the people, you are doing goondagardi (hooliganism). Without pressure from the top, neither the ED nor the CBI nor the Income Tax can come.”

“If these agencies keep their credibility intact then all states where there would be financial irregularities would say that let us hand over the probe to the CBI. But today the opposite is taking place. The situation is worrying. The question is not about my son. It is about terrorising the whole country.  I have heard that ED officers have shifted their families to Chhattisgarh for a year now and are living there on rent because they have to conduct raids every day,” he added.

The Enforcement Directorate is probing the Rs 2,161-crore liquor scam case in Chhattisgarh, in which senior government functionaries have been arrested and their bail pleas have been rejected by the Chhattisgarh high court recently. The incumbent government is also facing allegations of a coal levy scam, in which two Congress MLAs and an IAS officer are named as accused.

In August the Supreme Court rapped the ED and said that it “cannot be a law unto itself” while restraining the central probe agency and the Uttar Pradesh government from proceeding with a fresh case against an accused in an alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh.

At the same press conference, Rajasthan Congress in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that it was “black day for democracy”.

“This has never happened before during elections. A new trend has begun in Rajasthan and the Congress-ruled states that go to polls. I would like to ask the BJP government if they have anything else except IT, ED and CBI. Congress will not be scared. BJP should show the symbols of ED, CBI and IT along with its ‘Lotus’ symbol.”

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that the Gehlot government had crossed all milestones of corruption.

“The Ashok Gehlot government has crossed all the milestones of corruption and has set new benchmarks. A series of paper leaks took place in Rajasthan putting the future of lakhs of youth in darkness. 70 lakh youth of Rajasthan suffered due to continuous 19 paper leaks… Most of them belonged to poor and Dalit families. They had hopes of a government job that would give their families dignity. They struggled to give an education to their children.

“…The main point here is that from the 1st till the 19th paper leak, the people in government seemed to cover up the paper leaks… CM Gehlot said that such incidents are normal and happen in other states too. Then he said that he would order an inquiry. Then he said that no government official was involved in it and gave a clean chit to them.”

In a statement to news agency ANI, Vaibhav Gehlot also said that he had received the summons from ED: “About twelve-thirteen years ago similar allegations were made and we had responded to them. Now again, ED has come again. People of Rajasthan do understand why this is happening when model code of conduct is imposed in the state. ED raids have also been conducted on the state Congress chief’s premises.”

Opposition hits out

Opposition parties have lashed out at the BJP after the ED action in Rajasthan. AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the raids are not surprising anymore.

In a statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that as soon as elections approach, “ED, CBI, IT etc. become the real ‘Panna Pramukh’ of BJP.”

Accusing the BJP of making its latest move using the central probe agencies seeing defeat in the upcoming five state elections, Kharge said that the saffron party will be given a befitting answer in the elections.

“We will continue to fight against the misuse of agencies, the public will give a befitting reply to the BJP,” he said.

“Now, people don’t even get surprised. They say that now that the Rajasthan elections are approaching, ED will go to opposition parties. BJP is doing this to put the opposition on a backfoot, to threaten them,” he said.

Addressing a press conference, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee spoke out against the raids in Rajasthan and those against her forest minister Jyotipriya Mullick in connection with an alleged multi crore ration distribution scam.

“The Supreme Court also said there should be proper evidence. Every morning you are raiding the house of ministers of opposition everywhere in the country,” she said.

“Have any BJP leader or minister been raided?” she asked.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the ED has become an extension of the BJP.

“I see ED changing its name from Enforcement Directorate to become an extended department of BJP. It has become a tool at the hands of the BJP. It’s shameful that we have agencies which are bending as per the will of those who are in power,” she said.

In August, the ED conducted raids at over three dozen locations in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, both states which currently have non-BJP governments.

In Chhattisgarh, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s political advisor Vinod Verma was among those whose was searched. Premises belonging to two of Baghel’s OSDs (officers on special duty) Manish Banchhor and Ashish Verma were also searched.

In Jharkhand, of the at least 34 places raided were the premises of Rohit Oroan, son of state finance minister Rameshwar Oroan, the newspaper reported.

In the first week of October alone the NIA, the Income Tax Department, the ED and the Delhi Police – all under the control of the Union government – conducted search and seizure operations at what appears to be over 200 locations across the country in five days.

The ED action in Rajasthan comes a week after Gehlot, addressed a press conference in Delhi, in which he said that the ED is continuing to target opposition parties despite the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct. He also said that he had sought an appointment with the ED.

Last year, The Indian Express reported that close to 85% of the cases involving politicians were registered against those from the opposition.

The ED later furnished its own data and said that since 2005, it has registered 5,906 cases. Of them, the agency has managed to dispose of only 25 cases and claimed a conviction rate of 96% conviction rate.