Congress plenary session: “Misuse” of investigation agencies will be a central topic resolution
After many days of protests against the alleged misuse of the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Congress will make it a central issue of its political resolve at the party’s plenary beginning on February 24 in Raipur.
The conversations will occur against the backdrop of the Enforcement Division’s decision to reopen the National Herald case against former Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the current Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and others. The party also said that it will investigate the possibilities of filing a petition for review with the Supreme Court to contest the 2002 Amendments to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Monday, just days before the plenary session in Raipur, the ED, which investigates financial crimes, conducted searches at the residences of many Congress officials as part of an ongoing investigation into a coal fraud. Congress, infuriated, lashed out at the ED and the government, claiming that the federal agency does not investigate where it should, instead focusing solely on opposition parties. Pawan Khera, the leader of the party, stated that 95% of ED raids had targeted opposition groups.
In a statement released on Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that a “massive scam” was occurring in coal transportation in Chhattisgarh, where a cartel of politicians, officers, and others was allegedly operating a “parallel system of extorting illegal levy” that generates approximately 2-3 crore per day.
The law enforcement agency detained nine individuals, including a state administrative service officer, a merchant, his uncle, a Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer, and a coal businessman.
Taking a further jab at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Khera asked the government to conduct raids on BJP leaders, citing the outstanding investigations of senior BJP leaders such as Suvendu Adhiakri, BS Yediyurappa, Reddy brothers, Narayan Rane, Mukul Roy, and Hemanta Biswa Sharma.
The exploitation of federal agencies is a central issue of our political resolution. This issue was underlined during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, but I cannot predict the outcome of the negotiations,” said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra was founded on three pillars: economic disparity, growing social polarisation, and political authoritarianism. All of these topics would be central to the plenary. During the debates on these topics, all significant issues would be addressed, Ramesh stated.
The Congress stated that the ED raids have failed to frighten the party, and that the Bharat Jodh Yatra has altered the political landscape. “This event has shook the government. Khera stated that the Prime Minister does not release the ED where it should be.
Ramesh recalled that 17 political parties have issued a joint statement against the misuse of federal agencies and stated that Congress will attempt to file a petition for review with the Supreme Court against the amendments to the money laundering law that gave the ED unrestricted authority to search and arrest.
