HYDERABAD: Nine out of eight chiefs political parties wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accusing the BJP government at the center of abusing the seat of the Governor AND central agencies to target the opposition parties and their leaders, which transformed the country from being a democracy into an autocracy.
Leaders said the timing of the filing of cases or the arrests of opposition leaders “coincided with the elections”, making it clear that the action taken was “politically motivated”.
Among the opposition leaders who signed the letter were SBR Chairman and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, JKNC Chief Farooq Abdullah, AITC Chief Mamata Banerjee, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
However, there was no representation of Congress, JDS, JD(U), CPU, CPM in the letter.
Referring to the arrest of Manish Sisodia, opposition leaders said the charges against him were baseless and smacked of political conspiracy. His arrest infuriated the townspeople. He is globally recognized for transforming school education in Delhi. His arrest will be cited around the world as an example of political witch-hunting and will further confirm what the world only suspected that India’s democratic values were under threat under an authoritarian BJP regime, they wrote in the letter.
They also accused the BJP government of softening its investigations against opposition leaders who were investigated in several cases after they joined the BJP.
Citing the example of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a former Congress leader who joined the BJP in 2015, the letter said that he was being investigated by central agencies for cheating Saradha chit fund, however, the case did not it went on. after joining the BJP.
Of the total number of key politicians booked, arrested, searched or interrogated by investigative agencies under the BJP’s rule since 2014, the most belong to the opposition. Interestingly, investigative agencies are slow in cases against opposition politicians who join the BJP, the letter said.
“Former TMC leaders Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari were under ED and CBI scanner in Operation Narada sting case but cases did not progress after they joined BJP ahead of assembly polls in the state. There are many such examples. including that of Narayan Rane of Maharashtra,” reads the letter.
Referring to the arrests of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nawab Mallik, Azam Khan and others, the leaders wrote that the central agencies were working as extended wings of the BJP.
“Since 2014, there has been an increase in the number of raids conducted, cases registered and arrests of opposition leaders. Be it Anil Deshmukh (NCP), Lalu Prasad Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Azam Khan (Samajwadi Party), Nawab Malik (NCP), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), central agencies often have aroused the suspicion that they were working as extended wings of the dominant pantry at the Center. In many of these cases, the timing of the complaints filed or the arrests made coincided with the elections, making it amply clear that they were politically motivated,” the opposition leaders wrote.
Governors’ offices in many states across the country act in violation of constitutional provisions and often obstruct state governance. They are intentionally undermining democratically elected state governments and choosing instead to obstruct government according to their whims and fancies, the letter said.
Be it the Governor of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal or the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, the Governors have become the face of the growing rift between the Center and the states run by non-BJP governments and threaten the spirit of cooperative federalism, which the States continue to cultivate despite a lack of expression on the part of the Centre. “As a result, the people of our country have now started questioning the role of governors in Indian democracy,” the letter read.
Leaders said the timing of the filing of cases or the arrests of opposition leaders “coincided with the elections”, making it clear that the action taken was “politically motivated”.
Among the opposition leaders who signed the letter were SBR Chairman and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, JKNC Chief Farooq Abdullah, AITC Chief Mamata Banerjee, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
However, there was no representation of Congress, JDS, JD(U), CPU, CPM in the letter.
Referring to the arrest of Manish Sisodia, opposition leaders said the charges against him were baseless and smacked of political conspiracy. His arrest infuriated the townspeople. He is globally recognized for transforming school education in Delhi. His arrest will be cited around the world as an example of political witch-hunting and will further confirm what the world only suspected that India’s democratic values were under threat under an authoritarian BJP regime, they wrote in the letter.
They also accused the BJP government of softening its investigations against opposition leaders who were investigated in several cases after they joined the BJP.
Citing the example of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a former Congress leader who joined the BJP in 2015, the letter said that he was being investigated by central agencies for cheating Saradha chit fund, however, the case did not it went on. after joining the BJP.
Of the total number of key politicians booked, arrested, searched or interrogated by investigative agencies under the BJP’s rule since 2014, the most belong to the opposition. Interestingly, investigative agencies are slow in cases against opposition politicians who join the BJP, the letter said.
“Former TMC leaders Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari were under ED and CBI scanner in Operation Narada sting case but cases did not progress after they joined BJP ahead of assembly polls in the state. There are many such examples. including that of Narayan Rane of Maharashtra,” reads the letter.
Referring to the arrests of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nawab Mallik, Azam Khan and others, the leaders wrote that the central agencies were working as extended wings of the BJP.
“Since 2014, there has been an increase in the number of raids conducted, cases registered and arrests of opposition leaders. Be it Anil Deshmukh (NCP), Lalu Prasad Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Azam Khan (Samajwadi Party), Nawab Malik (NCP), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), central agencies often have aroused the suspicion that they were working as extended wings of the dominant pantry at the Center. In many of these cases, the timing of the complaints filed or the arrests made coincided with the elections, making it amply clear that they were politically motivated,” the opposition leaders wrote.
Governors’ offices in many states across the country act in violation of constitutional provisions and often obstruct state governance. They are intentionally undermining democratically elected state governments and choosing instead to obstruct government according to their whims and fancies, the letter said.
Be it the Governor of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal or the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, the Governors have become the face of the growing rift between the Center and the states run by non-BJP governments and threaten the spirit of cooperative federalism, which the States continue to cultivate despite a lack of expression on the part of the Centre. “As a result, the people of our country have now started questioning the role of governors in Indian democracy,” the letter read.
