India’s opposition leaders have shown solidarity with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal following his arrest by the ED on Thursday. With this, Kejriwal has joined a list of prominent leaders who have come under the ED scanner since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power in 2014.
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), which operates under the Department of Revenue, Government of India, has filed 95% of the cases against the Opposition leaders since 2014, according to a report by The Indian Express.
An analysis by English Daily mentioned that there has been a four-fold jump in ED cases against politicians since PM Modi’s regime in comparison to the Congress-led UPA regime.
‘Desperate witch-hunt’: Opposition leaders slam BJP after Kejriwal’s ED arrest
The Indian Express report showed that between 2014 and 2022, out of 121 political leaders who were raided by the ED, 115 were Opposition leaders.
However, during the UPA’s regime, a total of 26 politicians were probed by the ED. Of these, 14 were Opposition leaders, or more than half (54%).
Tamil Nadu: ED raids ex-AIADMK minister C Vijayabaskar’s residence at Pudukkotta
After 2022, several other political leaders have come under the radar of ED such as Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia (March 2023), Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
The other senior Opposition politicians facing ED probes include D K Shivakumar from Karnataka; West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda; and, the late Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel, who was Sonia Gandhi’s aide.
ED probes against Opposition
ED’s official probed 24 Congress leaders between 2014 and 2022 September, according to The Indian Express analysis. Follwed by 19 (TMC); 8 (Shiv Sena), 6 (BJD), 5 (RJD, BSP, SP and TDP each), 3 (AAP, INLD, and YSCRP), 2 (CPM, NC and PDP), and 1 (AIADMK, MNS, BRS and SBSP each).
PM Modi lauds ED’s resolute fight against corruption
ED’s probes turn lenient
ED’s investigation turned lenient against opposition leaders who joined the BJP as per The Indian Express. For instance ED’s investigation against Assam Chief Minister Himansta Biswa Sarma, who was probed by the CBI and the ED in the Saradha chit fund scam case when he was in Congress, his case does not see further development after he joined the BJP.
ED searching premises linked to Jharkhand Congress MLA Amba Prasad
There have also been no further developments in cases against former TMC leaders Suvendu Adhikari and Mukul Roy in the Narada sting operation. Adhikari and Roy had joined the BJP before the West Bengal polls in 2017. However, Roy returned to TMC later.
The ED has been at the forefront in building cases against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, facing probes in the National Herald case. Former finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti have also been under the ED scanner in connection with the Aircel Maxis case.
ED has also pursued a probe against relatives of key Congress politicians, including Kamal Nath.
As per The Indian Express report, ED is probing five BJP politicians, including Karnataka mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia’s son Dushyant Singh.
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Published: 22 Mar 2024, 11:38 AM IST