BJP’s only faces in Chhattisgarh are ED and I-T… I am not afraid to go to jail: Bhupesh Baghel

Earlier in the day, addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Baghel accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of misusing central agencies, and said he was not afraid of going to jail.

“I wanted Raman Singh as my opponent, as we had contested last time… Some journalists asked D Purandeswari, BJP’s Chhattisgarh in-charge, who would be the party’s face (for the Assembly polls). Then they went to Raman Singh and asked the same question, to which he replied, ‘I am a face (chhota-mota chehra)’. The journalists  then came back to Purandeswari, and she categorically said that he (Raman Singh) was not the face. Today, the situation is such that there is no face in the BJP,” Baghel said at the Adda. “Today, the BJP has no (CM) face there. The only faces there are the ED and I-T,” he added.

Alleging attempts to “defame” and “obstruct” his government ahead of the Assembly polls, he said: “Is there only one party’s people in Chhattisgarh? About 200 raids have happened, but none were against the BJP or people associated with it. You can see this across the country too. Has there been any raid on any businessman, trader, contractor or officer associated with the BJP in UP or MP?…The meaning of corruption has been limited to action against Opposition leaders only.”

Responding to a question on why his party leaders were reluctant to speak on religion, Baghel said while Rahul Gandhi sought to unite, the BJP sought to divide. Referring to the recent incident of an RPF constable allegedly gunning down four persons inside a train, he said: “You (BJP) are dividing on the basis of hate and violence… Otherwise, a youth in a train, whose job is to protect us, would not have shot his senior and three others… You are continuously poisoning minds, fuelling anger.”

“This is not a country of hate and violence. Only this country has respect for disagreement (asahamati ka samman). This is the philosophy of Mahavira, which even Mahatma Gandhi had adopted,” he said.

To a question about Hindutva, Baghel said, “We are not Hindu for the sake of votes… We don’t seek votes in the name of Ram, but we have faith in Ram.”

He said the BJP state leadership had “lost confidence” in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity. “Now, they talk about bulldozers. Bulldozer belongs to Yogiji (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath). Be it Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh… BJP’s Chhattisgarh president Arun Sao has said that if they return to power, they will roll out bulldozers. This means they are talking about Yogiji, not Modiji. Modiji’s popularity inside BJP is declining,” he said.

The Adda session was moderated by The Indian Express’s National Opinion Editor Vandita Mishra and Chief of National Political Bureau Manoj C G.

At the press conference earlier, Baghel accused the BJP of misusing central agencies for “political vendetta”. “You don’t want to contest elections democratically. You are using the ED and I-T to intimidate and harass people, to obstruct their work… If such people work with such motives, then democracy is in danger,” he said.

“We are from Chhattisgarh. Neither do we fear death, nor do we fear going to jail. Naxalites have killed so many people, our main leaders were assassinated. This happened during their (BJP) regime. We don’t fear death. We don’t fear a fight either,” he said.

“Raman Singh (former chief minister) had sent me to jail. The BJP’s 15-year rule decimated the party to 15 seats,” he said.

Baghel said the only purpose of the central agencies was to “defame” and “obstruct” his elected government. “The only purpose is political,” he said, adding, “They (BJP) started this in July 2020 after their defeat in the Jharkhand Assembly elections.”

“Today, there is an atmosphere of fear. You know about Sanjay Mishra (ED Director). He has been given a task till September 15… He still has 15-20 days left,” he said. “He will terrorise as much as he can, because he has been given an extension by his political masters… He will, therefore, work accordingly,” he said.

Alleging that the ED officials were harassing people and intimidating them to sign papers, he said: “Your aim is not to save public money. Your purpose is to make your masters happy by taking actions based on political vendetta.”

On allegations of a liquor scam, Baghel claimed that excise revenue had increased from Rs 3,900 crore earlier to Rs 6,500 crore under his government.

On Wednesday, the ED conducted searches at about 10 locations in connection with an alleged money laundering case linked to the Mahadev App, an online gaming platform. These included the premises of Baghel’s political advisor, Vinod Verma, and two OSDs at his office.