BJP’s way of working ahead of elections: Mann on CBI raids

Chandigarh: A day after the CBI raided his officer-on-special duty (OSD) in a corruption case, on Wednesday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said it was the BJP’s “way of working” ahead of election and claimed that the agency found nothing incriminating.

The CBI registered a corruption case involving an OSD to Mann and other officers at the direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and raided several locations, including the chief minister’s “camp office”, officials said.

Directing a probe by the federal agency, the high court earlier noted that the material shared by the Enforcement Directorate prima facie indicated the officers’ involvement in acts of corruption. Speaking to reporters in Dhuri in Sangrur, Mann lashed out at the BJP, accusing it of misusing central agencies whenever elections are due.

Mann alleged that whenever an election is due, the party starts “harassing” the opposition leaders, their associates, or their family members through raids months before. “A raid was conducted at Hemant Soren’s residence in Chhattisgarh. Elections were due after two months. Similarly, close leaders of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal were apprehended ahead of elections,” he said. Mann also cited the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in Delhi, and raids by the Enforcement Directorate in Haryana against Congress leaders, both times ahead of an election, as instances of BJP’s power abuse.

“From yesterday’s raid, it shows they (BJP) are rattled,” he said. “They did not find anything during the raid which lasted 7-8 hours,” he claimed. “What will they get from us? We have not come here to indulge in corrupt practices,” Man added. The AAP leader said that maybe the CBI will now give his party a clean chit and will “tell (Narendra) Modi that ‘nothing will be found from here and do not waste our time’.” He also accused the BJP of trying to defame him, his family and his government.