'Coercive Centrism' guiding mantra of Modi govt, says Surjewala

In the backdrop of Income Tax raids against the close aides of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said that "Coercive Centrism" is the new guiding mantra of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government.

"Do the frequent, desperate and nationwide attempts at intimidation represents Prime Minister Narendra Modi's interpretation of cooperative federalism? Coercive centrism is now the guiding mantra for Modi-Shah 2.0" Surjewala said at a press conference here on Sunday.

"Over the last four days, multiple raids on various locations have been carried out by the Income Tax department in the state of Chhattisgarh. The raids have been conducted in a clandestine, cloak and dagger manner without any information being provided to the state government or to the state police. The officials of the IT Department carrying out the raids have been sent along with CRPF," he added.

He further alleged that the government has used CRPF to execute political vendetta.

"All governments prior to this one, have deemed the deployment of central forces to be limited to rare and exceptional circumstances and always in the interest of the general public. No government in Indian history, prior to the Modi-Shah regime, can be accused of reducing the status of an elite force such as the CRPF to that of an accompanying party for an income tax raid. No political party, except the BJP, has ever used the CRPF to execute political vendetta," he said.

"In fact, the use of the CRPF in this manner, without the express consent of the state government, violates not only the constitutional scheme of federalism but is an attack on democracy itself," he added.

The I-T Department had on Thursday conducted raids at 25 premises, including those of Congress leader and Raipur Mayor Ajaz Dhebar and senior IAS officers in Chhattisgarh. The IT department team then on Friday raided the Bhilai residence of Soumya Chaurasia, the Deputy Secretary of Baghel.

The investigation has been completed in 17 of the 32 locations which were targeted by the Income Tax Department. The remaining 15 locations are still being searched.