‘Tiddi dal’: Ashok Gehlot’s sharp attack on ED after his son is summoned for questioning

The Congress put up a united front, with Gehlot, state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and others holding a press conference in Jaipur, while Sachin Pilot addressed one in Delhi. “The way agencies have been let loose in Rajasthan before polls to intimidate Congress leaders – the country and the state are watching,” Pilot said.

In Sikar, Dotasra asked his supporters, who had gathered outside his house, not to get agitated, saying that there is nothing to worry about. Vaibhav said the allegations against him are 12 years old “and I had responded to them then and I will respond to them now”. In a social media post, Vaibhav said he wasn’t given even 24 hours to appear in Delhi.

During the ED raid at Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra’s residence in Jaipur on Thursday. (PTI)

Comparing the ED to a “tiddi dal (locust swarm)”, Gehlot said their aim is to create a public perception and make headlines like “CM’s son being summoned” or “PCC president being raided”. Accusing the central agencies of “spreading terror” across the nation, he said the raids are a sign that his government is going to be re-elected.

Randhawa said the BJP should put the symbols of investigative agencies alongside their party symbol, and that while BJP leaders are yet to come to Rajasthan, ED has arrived in their place.

Gehlot said: “Yesterday we announced two guarantees and today there were raids on two persons. Tomorrow we are going to announce five more guarantees, so they should choose five leaders, in advance, on whom to conduct raids.”

“Vaibhav got a notice on October 25, dated October 19, to appear on the 26th. What is this, isn’t this a joke?” he said.

On Dotasra, he said: “You did not even send a notice, there is no case lodged nor is there a complaint. And what is the credibility of those lodging complaints? The situation today is worrying. The question is not about the PCC president or my son, the question is that they are terrorising the entire nation.”

Gehlot said that under the UPA government, between 2004 and 2014, 112 searches were conducted. “Since these were based on genuine complaints, charge-sheets were filed in 104 cases, or 93 per cent,” he said.

In contrast, since 2014, 3,010 raids have been conducted in nine years out of which a charge-sheet was filed in 881 cases, or 29 per cent, he said.

He said that the BJP is pained at being unsuccessful at horse trading in Rajasthan, while it formed governments in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and Manipur.

He also claimed that ED officials have been sitting in Chhattisgarh for a year. “I have heard that ED persons have shifted their families and have taken homes on rent as they have to conduct raids daily. The terror they are spreading is not a good sign,” Gehlot said.

He added that the way in which PCC president D K Shivkumar was “attacked” by the central agencies in Karnataka and the BJP was wiped out in the state is the same manner in which BJP will be wiped out from Rajasthan.

He compared the ED to a “locust swarm that comes from Pakistan and eats our crop. And ED will finish their (BJP) crop. They are using ED like a tiddi dal”.

While there was no official statement from the ED, the raids on Dotasra and Hudla are said to be in connection with the 2021 Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) paper leaks. This is the first time that raids have been conducted on the two.

At the end of the 10-hour raids, Hudla said the ED had conducted raids on six locations linked to him “but could not find even Re 1 out of place”.

He accused a BJP Rajya Sabha MP of being behind the raids, and said: “If the ED can prove the allegation that I did a transaction of even Re 1 in REET examination, then I will die by suicide the same day.”

Vaibhav’s case pertains to alleged FEMA violations. In August and September this year, the ED had conducted raids at various locations in Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai and Delhi under FEMA in the case of M/s Triton Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd, M/s Vardha Enterprises Pvt Ltd, and its directors and promoters Shiv Shankar Sharma, Rattan Kant Sharma and others.

It had said that it initiated an investigation on the basis of “credible information” wherein M/s Triton Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd allegedly received FDI from M/s Shivnar Holdings Ltd, Mauritius at a huge premium, violating FEMA provisions. Rattan Kant is said to have been Vaibha’s former business associate.

Stating that his son has no national or international business, Gehlot said: “As far as I know, there is a taxi company where Rattan Sharma was a partner of Rs 25-30 lakh, and I believe Vaibhav was a partner for the same amount. Then the partners separated, that is all.”