ED targeting state Congress leaders like locusts from Pakistan attack crops: Ashok Gehlot

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said the Enforcement Directorate teams are 'attacking' Congress leaders in the state the way locusts from Pakistan used to attack crops here. Referring to the ED raid on the premises of state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra, Gehlot said that now summons have been sent to both his sons and Vaibhav Gehlot has been called again for questioning.

The ED has swooped down to Dotasra's residence in connection with the paper leak case and his sons have been reportedly issued summons for questioning.

Gehlot said various criminals who committed economic crimes are sitting abroad, which suggests that 'ED's lethality has been reduced'.

In a statement, he said fugitives who committed economic offences should be arrested, but today the ED is being 'misused' against political rivals. This trend is visible in all the states ruled by the Opposition, he claimed.

'Enforcement Directorate (ED) teams are attacking congress leaders in Rajasthan like 'tiddi' (locusts) from Pakistan used to attack crops here,' Gehlot said in Nokha of Bikaner while canvassing for Congress candidate Sushila Dudi.

Sushila Dudi is wife of ailing Congress leader and former leader of opposition Rameshwar Lal Dudi. She filed her nomination from Nokha assembly constituency.

The chief minister said that in 2014, the then UPA government was defeated due to 'false allegations of corruption and scams through sponsored conspiracies'. Today there is no discussion of those so-called scams anywhere, he said.

He said, 'The present central government has destabilized the elected governments in various states including Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur, Goa. With the blessings of the public, their conspiracy could not succeed in Rajasthan. Such tendencies are harmful for democracy.' Earlier, while addressing a public meeting in Dudu district for Congress candidate Babulal Nagar, Gehlot highlighted the schemes and guarantee programmes of the Congress government in the state.