‘Undeclared emergency in India’: JMM, Cong on Delhi CM’s arrest
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress condemned the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a joint press conference on Friday, saying the way central agencies are arresting democratically elected chief ministers one state after another “is an indication of an undeclared emergency in the country”.
“The NDA government is sending democratically elected chief ministers to jail. After Hemant Soren, Arvind Kejriwal was sent to jail. The act is autocratic and disturbing . .... If Kejriwal and Soren had listened to them (the NDA government), such an incident would not have taken place .... Modi government is taking the country to the abyss,” said Congress executive president and former state minister Bandhu Tirkey, accompanied by JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya.
Tirkey added, “The INDIA Bloc will give a befitting reply to this act.”
Bhattacharya echoed Tirkey’s sentiments, saying the
way the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is being used goes against the spirit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
“PMLA is for the prevention of money laundering. It is expected to probe money trails, but it is being used as police ..... Hemant Soren was arrested without evidence for the illegal transfer of 8.5 acres of Bhuihari tribal land, which is now in the possession of its
real owner...CM Kejriwal was arrested in a liquor scam involving ₹100 to ₹300 crore, but not a single penny was recovered ..... ,” Bhattacharya said.
He also expressed concern over the freezing of the Congress party’s bank account by the Income Tax department on Thursday.
“The government has imposed a penalty of ₹116 crore for tax evasion on the amount for which there is a provision of hardly ₹10,000 fine...Now the Union government has started robbing the funds of political parties,” he said.
Bhattacharya demanded intervention from President Draupadi Murmu into the matter, saying it is an attack not only on any political party or individual but on the constitution of India.
“The President should ensure that elections are contested on equal grounds and all parties should get an equal opportunity,” he said.
Earlier, Bhattacharya said that the way the Union government is working, “no one is safe”.
“The way CMs are arrested from CM House and Raj Bhavans, I am afraid of bombings by central paramilitary forces on party offices and the reduction of all the election material to ashes,” he said.
BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said all the allegations made by the ruling alliance are wrong.
“Hemant and Kejriwal were arrested from home after they did not turn up before the central probe agency despite several summons. While Soren ignored 10 summons, Kejriwal ignored 9 summons though they had taken an oath of allegiance to the law,” Shahdeo said.
On the freezing of Congress accounts, Shahdeo said, “Congress violated Section 13A of the Income Tax Act and did not get any initial relief until the Tribunal and high court. After that, action was taken on its account as per the rules. But they are holding press conferences and agitations on the lines of ‘Chor Machaye Shor’. They are not showing the courage to go to the Supreme Court.”
“More than ₹20 crore was recovered from the CA house of an IAS officer in JMM’s rule. Crores of rupees were also recovered from the houses of associates of Chief Minister’s MLA representative Pankaj Mishra. A record amount of ₹350 crore was recovered in income tax raids from the companies of Congress MP Dheeraj Sahu. All of them are custodians of black money,” the BJP leader added.