Chandigarh, Jul 21 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said the probe agencies should not be used as a political weapon to target opponents, stressing then the institutions will lose their credibility and democracy will be in danger.
“In our democratic set up, these agencies also form part of what are called pillars of our democracy and thus their credibility is important,” he said after the Haryana unit of the Congress questioned party president Sonia Gandhi in a money-laundering case on Thursday.
“If these agencies are used as a political weapon, then they will lose their credibility and if that happens democracy will be in danger,” he added.
The former Haryana chief minister said central probe agencies like the CBI, ED and Income Tax Department should not be used as “a political weapon by the Centre to target opponents”.
“Today, Sonia Gandhi has been called. They keep summoning one or the other leader. We are urging the government to stop misuse of these agencies,” said Hooda.
Referring to a number of party workers who came here to be part of the protest, Hooda said, “In democracy, you have to raise the voice of people. Despite inclement weather, many came here for the protest. This shows that people are not happy with what the government is doing”.
He also slammed the state government over unemployment, crime and soaring inflation.
“Unemployment in Haryana is the highest in the country, they are not tackling that. Crime rate is growing, inflation is high. Common people are facing hardships and the government should concentrate on these burning issues,” said Hooda, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Haryana Assembly.
He said on Friday the party’s state unit will hold protests at district headquarters over the misuse of probe agencies and deteriorating law and order situation in Haryana.
Congress MLA Varun Choudhary said the government is trying to muzzle the voice of opposition by targeting its leaders.
Haryana Congress’ working president Shruti Choudhary told PTI they firmly stand with their leader Sonia Gandhi and added the government cannot muzzle the voice of the opposition, which will continue to raise public issues.
Senior Haryana Congress leaders Karan Singh Dalal and Ashok Arora said central agencies like the ED and CBI as well as the Income Tax Department are being “misused” against political opponents.
“There is growing unemployment, inflation and the rupee value is falling against the dollar. Rather than tackling these burning issues, the government is busy targeting opponents. They want to divert public attention from burning issues by such actions,” said Arora.
Karan Dalal said it is sad that rather than taking steps to control inflation and check growing unemployment, the government is targeting political opponents to divert public attention.
“By involving Congress leaders in false cases, they want to hide their own failures,” said Dalal.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in a money-laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper.
Several senior Congress leaders from the state, including state unit chief Udai Bhan, state Congress working president Shruti Choudhary, took part in the protest here.
The party leaders and workers gathered at the Haryana Congress headquarters here in the afternoon to take out a protest march against the Enforcement Directorate’s questioning of Sonia Gandhi.
However, the Chandigarh Police put up barricades at a short distance from the Congress office. Congress leaders said they were denied permission to take out the march to the ED office. PTI SUN VSD RDK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
