After Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, other BJP leaders and Enforcement Directorate officials were booked in Karnataka for alleged extortion over the now-scrapped electoral bonds scheme, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said on Sunday the money that went to the BJP’s bank accounts came from the ED.
The Rajya Sabha member, who said such corrupt activities would be exposed once the Opposition INDIA bloc and Maha Vikas Aghadi came to power, also pointed the finger at BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“The case is registered based on a local court order in Karnataka and not because there is a Congress government. There was corruption in electoral bonds. This agency is the agent of the BJP, and the money that goes into the bank account of the BJP comes from the ED. The ED is a corrupt agency. Why is a case filed against Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman? The money has been deposited illegally, which we call extortion. The agency is given a target to collect the money. A similar thing happened in our case. There are particular officials who have been assigned this job. There was one person named Jeetu Navlani who was indulging in this practice,” Raut alleged.
“During our (MVA) government, it was revealed and an SIT was formed to probe this, but after this government came to power, Fadnavis disbanded the SIT,” he added.
Raut said that one Romi Bhagat, currently in jail, had allegedly initiated this extortion scheme. “The ED and the CBI are the most corrupt agencies in the country and BJP leaders are involved in it. The prime minister and finance minister are responsible for this,” he said.
Raut further alleged that a former ED official, Rajeshwar Singh, now a BJP MLA in Uttar Pradesh, was also implicated in such activities. Once the MVA government comes to power, “the scores will be settled”, he said.
In addition, Raut criticised the Mahayuti government over the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana of monthly aid for women, expressing concerns whether government employees such as security guards and home guards will receive their salaries because of the burden the scheme places on the exchequer.
Raut also said the BJP was misusing data of the scheme’s beneficiaries to attract voters. “Fadnavis is sending letters to all the beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin scheme. In the letter, he has omitted the name of the chief minister, claiming that the BJP had introduced this scheme,” he said.
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