Rajasthan: ED raids Congress chief's residence; Gehlot alleges 'misuse' of central agencies in poll-bound state

Sikar (Rajasthan) [India], October 26 : Ahead of the Rajasthan assembly elections scheduled for November 25, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on Thursday at the residences of state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara in Jaipur and Sikar.
Additionally, a coaching center allegedly linked to Dotasara was also searched. The ED has also summoned Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son, Vaibhav Gehlot, for questioning in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case.
Notably, Govind Singh Dotasara is the Congress candidate running for the Laxmangarh assembly seat in Sikar district.
The Congress party, which is in a direct contest with the BJP in the state, has raised concerns about the timing of the ED's actions.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot expressed suspicion about the "timing," "objective," and "intent" behind the raids conducted by central government agencies in Rajasthan, suggesting that the BJP might be feeling vulnerable ahead of the Rajasthan assembly elections.
Pilot criticized the BJP for specifically targeting Congress leaders without factual evidence, accusing them of attempting to use central agencies to influence the election outcome.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also criticized the BJP's actions and accused them of attempting to divert attention from the real issues facing the state.
"We have elections in Rajasthan in a few days. The Model Code of Conduct is in place here... The timing, objective and the intent of the raids conducted by the central government agencies in Jaipur and other cities today is questionable and suspicious," Pilot said in a press conference on Thursday.
"The way the BJP is specifically targeting Congress leaders without any factual evidence after realising that they will be losing defeat in the upcoming election is condemnable," he added.
Pilot said that it is a well-known fact that the central government has been misusing the central agencies for its political benefits. However, he said that using the agencies before the elections to threaten Congress leaders is condemnable.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot attacked the BJP government, alleging that "it was goondaism" and the central government had "created terror" in the country through probe agencies.
Addressing a press conference here, Gehlot said the situation is worrying and said that the BJP should seek to win over people through its policies, behaviour, and principles in democracy but is resorting to "goondaism".
"Aap gundagardi kar rahe ho, gundagardi hai ye...Without pressure from the top neither ED nor CBI can come," he said.
Rajasthan Congress In-Charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that the BJP They should come and fight in the elections rather using such 'tactics'.
"BJP neither has leaders nor they have any program. Our govt has fulfilled all the promises made to the people in the state. We announced two promises yesterday and ED conducted raids at two locations today...People are standing in support of Congress, we will win all the seats in Sikar district in the upcoming polls. I just want to say that Government should not use such tactics. They should come and fight in the elections..." Randhawa said.
In a swipe at the BJP, Former Madhya Pradesh CM and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said that the action of ED against the Congress leader is result of 'political vendetta' of the Modi government.
"PM Modi's government is working with the spirit of political vendetta, and this is the result of that. This is being done to disrupt our election campaign. We condemn this..." Singh said.
However, BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh on Thursday said that the central government has nothing to do with the action of the federal agency as all independent agencies are conducting their procedures independently.
"Everybody in Rajasthan knows how 17 times paper was leaked and the government didn't do any proceedings against the major suspects...It involved a huge exchange of money...All independent agencies are conducting procedures on their own level. Everyone should welcome them. If they are not guilty, they'll not get caught, and if they are guilty, they'll certainly get caught," Singh said.
State BJP Chief CP Joshi asserted on Thursday that the ruling party is "apprehensive" about the investigation because it is exposing their "truth" to the public.
"Why Congress leaders are so afraid of the ED... The Rajasthan government has destroyed the lives of thousands of students in the state. Ashok Gehlot is the 'Badshah' of all the corruption taking place in the state and now that the ED is doing an investigation to prevail justice for the youths, they are having a problem... Why are they afraid? They are afraid because their truth is coming in front of the public of the state," he said.
Meanwhile, Govind Singh Dotasara has said that he will change his name if single evidence is found indicating his involvement in any scam.
Addressing a gathering here in Sikar, Dotasara said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to malign the images of Congress leaders.
"They (BJP) want to finish democracy in the country. They want to malign the image of Congress leaders. I want to say if anyone can find evidence that I am involved in the paper leak or any other scam, then you can change my name..." Dotasara said.
Later, speaking to ANI, the Congress leader said that he has no connection with the paper leak nor Kalam coaching.
"We want to clarify that we neither have any connection with the paper leak nor Kalam coaching. We will go in front of the public, whatever decision the public takes, we will accept it. They want to waste our time and put pressure on us by scaring us. We are not afraid. We have not committed any mistake, there is no corruption. We will fully cooperate in the ED investigation and will provide all types of information..." he said.
The paper leak case has drawn the attention of the ED, resulting in actions against numerous individuals, including Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member Babulal Katara. Initially, the police had arrested individuals related to the paper leak, following which the ED took up the case and initiated further measures.