Govt playing 'dirty game' of targeting Oppn leaders: Cong

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad today accused the government of playing a "dirty game" of targeting Opposition leaders and said the recent sudden transfer of the Enforcement Directorate chief was aimed only to "fix" the Opposition leaders with "false and irrelevant" cases, including the National Herald case.

He said the government was trying to bury many of the corruption cases in which its own ministers and chief ministers were involved pushing the Opposition to "ring the bell in the temple of democracy (Parliament)".

"I simply wonder how can government come up with two different set of rules -- one for the ruling party and one for the Opposition. The government seems to have a set policy of keeping busy even the small Opposition parties with fake cases so that no one can question it on crucial issues," Azad told reporters after the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day.

He said government has played a "dirty game" by changing the ED director within a few days of granting him an extension after the previous Enforcement Directorate chief had "rightly" decided to close the case.

"National Herald is a non-profit making organisation and none of its directors or shareholders get a single penny. This was conveyed to the previous ED director who rightly decided to close the case.

"However, what prompted the government to replace him within days of this decision and appoint a new one (Karnal Singh) who re-opened the case? Does this move not smell of a political vendetta and I wonder how can government claim that it has no role to play when they play such dirty games from behind the scene," Azad said.

Rajan Katoch, a 1979-batch IAS officer, was replaced suddenly on August 19 after having been given an extension of three months on July 31. He was replaced by Karnal Singh, an IPS officer of 1984 batch.

The Lalit Modi scam was a fit case for registering a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by ED in which the government should have set an example by launching prosecution against the Rajasthan chief minister and her son besides others, Azad alleged and added "the silence adopted by the government in this matter showed its real face."

He said the Congress was not rattled by the recent judgement of the Delhi High Court in connection with the National Herald case and added "we know that we have done no wrong. We hold judiciary in high esteem and have complete faith in it."

He tore into the stand taken by some Union ministers that Congress was stalling the functioning of the Parliament at a time when important business was being transacted.

"Let me remind the government and the ministers that all the issues listed in the Business Advisory Committee of the Parliament -- price rise, drought situation, Scheduled Caste, The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2014, floods and rains-- are all Opposition sponsored business," he said.