Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday lashed out at the BJP-ruled government for using central agencies to put pressure and threaten his family as he began his campaign for the state assembly polls, scheduled for February 20.
Addressing the press conference here, CM said that Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s raids at houses and offices belonging to his nephew Bhupinder Singh alias Honey into money laundering allegations linked to the 2018 illegal sand mining case, is a “vendetta politics” as Honey was not even booked in this three-year-old case. He said that Honey’s name had not even been mentioned in the charge sheet and now suddenly when elections are at the corner, ED reinitiated the investigation to probe Honey's alleged links with Kudratdeep Singh, CM said.
“Just like West Bengal, when there were polls, BJP targeted Mamata Banerjee’s relatives through central agencies and now they are trying to put pressure on me and Congress leaders through ED raids,” he added.
He said that when elections are near, BJP manipulated ED raids. But Congress leaders are born warriors as our great leaders took the mighty British Raj head and following on their foot steps we are ready to face all pressure and troubles that BJP planning to give.
“ED officials have categorically threatened my family members that they want to implicate me and Congress leaders in false cases to prevent us from contesting the Vidhan Sabha elections. This is not good for the democracy as the BJP government is misusing the central agencies to influence the polls,” CM said. Hitting out at BJP-led union government, Channi said, “It is a case of vengeance as I had staunchly supporters farmers against repealing three-farm laws enacted by BJP government and retaliated to an alleged security breach during PM Narendra Modi' s visit in Punjab on January 5, which was aimed at defaming Punjab to hide the inability of BJP to muster support in Punjab.
Lashing out at Aam Aadmi Party, Channi said that party supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s nephew Vinay Bansal was arrested by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 2018 and at that time Kejriwal termed it a political vendetta by BJP ahead of elections.
“On the same pattern when BJP is trying to attack my family and leaders in Punjab, Kejriwal and AAP are supporting the BJP and corroborating their action. I am confident that BJP and AAP are in cahoots to befool Punjabis but we will not let them perform their nefarious tactics,” he said.