BJP govt targets political opponents using agencies: TN Cong President

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K. Selvaperunthagai said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has targeted its political opponents using agencies over the past 10 years.

He said that between 2014 and 2022, a total of 121 politicians, mostly from the Opposition, have been arrested by the ED and 839 criminal cases have been registered.

He also said that the BJP government led by PM Modi could not even eradicate corruption which he had promised.

Selvaperunthagai said that before coming to power in 2014, PM Modi campaigned to eradicate corruption without any political interference, if the BJP was voted to power.

He said that there are corruption charges against the Central government in the procurement of Rafale fighter jets, in the allocation of highway tenders, electoral bonds and from deals pertaining to certain pharmaceutical companies.

He said that the Central government’s exchequer has incurred a loss to the tune of Rs 41,000 crore in the procurement of the Rafale fighter jet deal. He charged that the Comptroller and Auditor General report has alleged a scam of Rs 7.5 lakh crore in the allocation of highway tenders.

Selvaperunthagai said that the ‘mega scam’ of electoral bonds came to light only after the intervention of the Supreme Court and subsequently, the details of the donors were made public.

He said that around 33 companies that recorded zero profit for the past seven years have donated Rs 576 crore through electoral bonds out of which Rs 434 crore was donated to the BJP.

He also alleged that those 33 companies had recorded a total loss of more than lakh crore and added that some of the companies have made donations to the BJP after getting government contracts.

The senior Congress leader charged that the donations were made by the companies soon after agencies such as the Directorate of Enforcement (ED, Income Tax (IT) Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids.

He also alleged that some pharmaceutical companies that were blacklisted by the Union Finance Ministry for manufacturing poor-quality medicines had also made donations to the BJP.