Oppn parties write to President; allege 'misuse of agencies' by govt

Leaders of several opposition parties on Tuesday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, alleging the "intensifying misuse" of probe agencies by the Modi government against its political opponents and sought her immediate intervention in the matter.

The letter to Murmu comes on a day Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is being questioned for the second time by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper, leading to massive protest by the Congress.

In a letter to the President, the leaders also raised the issue of the "stubborn attitude" of the government, which is not allowing an urgent discussion on the issue of price rise and GST hike that has impacted the proceedings in the Monsoon session so far.

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"We are writing to bring to your attention the continued and intensifying misuse of investigative agencies by the Modi Government as part of a systematic vendetta campaign against its political opponents," said the letter, signed by the leaders of the Congress, DMK, SP, AAP, RJD and CPI-M among others.

"We request for your immediate intervention in the matter," the leaders added.

Noting that the "law is the law and must be enforced without fear or favour", they said,"It cannot be used, as it is presently being done, arbitrarily, selectively and without any justification whatsoever against prominent leaders of numerous opposition parties."

"The sole aim of this campaign is to destroy reputations and weaken the forces fighting the BJP ideologically and politically," the opposition leaders said.

It is also being carried out to divert the attention of the people of our country from their most urgent day-to-day concerns of price rise of essential commodities, increasing unemployment and loss of livelihoods and mounting insecurity of life, liberty and property, they alleged.

The leaders, who signed the letter, included Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge, AAP's Sanjay Singh, RJD's Manoj Jha, RJD,CPI-M's Elamaram Kareem (CPI-M) and Ram Gopal Yadav from the SP.

On the government not allowing a discussion on price in Parliament, they cited instances in the past when such a discussion was allowed.

"Most, unfortunately, the monsoon session of Parliament has been stalled so far entirely because of the stubborn refusal of the Government to have an urgent debate on the pressing issue of price rise and increase in GST rates on essential food items. There are many precedents for such an urgent debate but this time Government is adamant and is not allowing it," the opposition leaders said.

The Opposition has been protesting in both houses of Parliament while demanding an urgent discussion on price rise and GST hike, leading to frequent disruptions ever since the Monsoon session started on July 18.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and several party MPs were detained by police at Vijay Chowk on Tuesday after they staged a protest against the ED questioning Sonia Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi and other Congress MPs gathered at Vijay Chowk to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhawan to draw the President's attention to the alleged misuse of agencies by the government.

The ED questioned Sonia Gandhi for the second time on Tuesday in the case linked to the National Herald newspaper, prompting her party to stage protests against the alleged misuse of central agencies.

She was questioned for over two hours on July 21.