On the eve of voting dates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, there is a major operation by the Enforcement directorate in Jharkhand. In the raids at multiple locations at rachi, ED has recovered huge stash of cash from household help of Sanjiv Lal who happens to be Personal Secretary to State Rural Development Minister, Alamgir Alam. The elections in Jharkhand are scheduled in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, covering 14 Lok Sabha seats.
Video footages in circulation shows huge amount of “unaccounted” cash with wads of currency notes spread in a room. ED sources said the cash was being counted to ascertain the exact amount.
The ED is investingatin the case pertaining to Virendra Kumar Ram, a Chief Engineer in the State Rural Development who was held by the agency on corruption charges in February 2023.
While the Prime Minister reiterated during his media interaction recently that central investigative agencies are free from any influence from the Government and are acting on it’s own, the opposition is crying foul over the timing of such actions. opposistion is claiming that ED and other central agencies such as CBI and Income Tax department are chosing their targets selectively to benefir the BJP electorally by damaging public perception about the opposition.
The opposition parties under the umbrella of INDIA alliance have been harping on the fact that the central agencies are going on overdrive when the cases are linked with opposition leaders. They also point out that BJP leaders somehow escape the scrutiny. Not only that, the opposition see a pattern in case trails going cold when the accussed leaders from opposition change the cam and jump on BJP bandwagon.
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren is already behind bars. While Soren resigned from CM’s post before getting arrested, Arvind Kejriwal was arrested as a sitting Delhi Chief Minister. On the other hand, those leaders with serious allegations of corruption, such as Himanta Biswa Sarma, Suvendu Adhikari, Ashok Chavan or Ajit Pawar have been allowed to breathe easy once they changed their allegiance to BJP, the opposition alleges.
Also Read: Ahmedabad Failing Citizen’s Duty on Poll Day In Last Three Elections
