PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi on Wednesday rejected that the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) target opposition leaders at the time of elections. “These offices work independently. The elections come in between…What can they do? The government has no role in it,” he told ANI in an interview.
However, a perusal of actions taken by various central agencies in the recent past shows that the timing of their operations has matched that of elections, and particularly targeted opposition leaders or those linked to them.
On February 4, just 16 days ahead of Assembly elections in Punjab, the ED arrested Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi‘s nephew Bhupinder Singh in a case of alleged illegal mining in the state. Incidentally, the ED case is based on an FIR registered in 2018.
In November last year, the ED arrested Congress leader and former Punjab MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in a 2015 drug smuggling case. In September, it had also summoned AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta in connection with the case.
On January 3 this year, just over a month ahead of Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Income Tax Department conducted searches at over 30 premises linked to Samajwadi Party MLA and businessman Pushpraj alias Pampi Jain on account of tax evasion.
In April last year, days before Tamil Nadu polls, Income Tax searched premises of DMK chief MK Stalin’s daughter Senthamarai in Chennai, provoking the DMK to call the raids in pursuit of “political objectives”.
Similarly, in the last week of February last year, ahead of the March 2 elections in West Bengal, the CBI summoned Rujuira Banerjee, wife of Mamata Banerji’s nephew Abhishek Banerji, for questioning in connection with a case of alleged coal pilferage in the state. In the middle of the elections, the NIA arrested Chhatradhar Mahato in a 2009 case while he was campaigning for the ruling TMC.
In the run-up to the Kerala Assembly elections in April last year, the NIA registered an FIR of terror funding in connection with a case of gold smuggling, which had the office of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in its crosshairs. Three months before the polls, it even filed a charge sheet. The ED arrested Vijayan’s former principal secretary in the case. It also arrested the son of CPI(M) Kerala state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in a separate case of money laundering.
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In March 2021, the ED summoned deputy CEO and CEO of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), in which Vijayan is the chairman, in connection with a case of forex violations. In July 2020, as the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan faced trouble with deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot revolting, the ED raided premises associated with Gehlot’s brother Agrasen for its probe into alleged diversion of fertilizers during 2007-09.
In 2019, Income Tax searched official premises associated with TDP MP Jaydev Galla for alleged tax evasion. This happened a day ahead of the Assembly polls. Only a year ago, the TDP had snapped ties with the BJP and gone out all guns blazing against the Modi government.
In the same year, ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the CBI registered a case in January in connection with illegal sand mining mining in UP. The FIR said, “The role of then mining ministers concerned during relevant period may be looked into during the course of investigation of the case.” SP leader Akhilesh Yadav and Gayatri Prajapati were in charge of the mining ministry between 2012 and 2016, when the alleged irregularities took place. The CBI had been handed over the probe by the High Court in 2016.
In 2017, Congress leader DK Shivakumar had arranged the stay of 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat in a Karnataka resort when senior Congress leader late Ahmed Patel was contesting to secure a Rajya Sabha seat.
Following this, IT searches were conducted against him and a charge sheet was filed. This was followed by ED registering a case against Shivakumar in September 2018 and arresting him a year later. Karnataka went to polls in early 2018.
In March 2018, days after being ousted from office following Assembly polls, former Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang was questioned by the NIA in a case of alleged terror funding. Zeliang, who heads the Nagaland People’s Front (NPF), ran the previous government in Nagaland in alliance with the BJP. However, just before the elections in February, the BJP entered into an alliance with the NPF breakaway Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP). Though the NDPP won less seats than the NPF, it formed the government with help from the BJP.
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