Haryana Minister defends ED's independence amid Vadra summons controversy
Haryana Minister Mahipal Dhanda defended the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) independence under the BJP government, asserting that the agency acts based on credible inputs and dismissing allegations of political targeting. He contrasted this with the alleged misuse of agencies during the Congress-led UPA regime, emphasizing the BJP's commitment to impartiality.
Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], April 16 (ANI): Haryana Minister Mahipal Dhanda on Tuesday responded to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to businessman Robert Vadra, stating that investigative agencies are functioning independently under the BJP government and act only when credible inputs are received.
"These are independent agencies, they must have some input and based on that input, these agencies work," Dhanda said, defending the ED's move and dismissing any allegations of political targeting.
He further contrasted the current government's approach with that of the previous Congress-led UPA regime, alleging that agencies were misused during that time.
"When PM Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, how they (Congress) used to harass him, but he never said anything. Now the BJP government is working with complete impartiality," Dhanda remarked.
He claimed that from 2004 to 2014, the public took to the streets against the numerous scams involving the Congress government, and the BJP too demanded accountability.
"From 2004 to 2014, people came out on the streets against the scams committed by the Congress governments, the BJP also came out on the streets. We said that there should be an ED, CBI inquiry into these, they filed cases, and they thought that the rule is theirs and they will get the decision as they want but the BJP government came to power and made the agencies independent," he said.
Notably, Vadra was questioned for hours in connection with the Gurugram land case by Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday.
However, Vadra, who is the husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has denied any wrongdoing and asserted that he had nothing to hide.
After hours of grilling, Robert Vadra left the ED office and said, "All the questions which I have answered before are being answered again. There is no issue. I have nothing to hide. Everything is answered; everything will be answered again."
Speaking to reporters, Vadra said whenever he does something good for the people, the opposition tries to suppress him.
"Whenever I talk for the people, they will try to suppress me. It's a political vendetta. They misuse the power of the probing agencies. I do not have any fear, as I have nothing to hide," Varda said. (ANI)