Sensing defeat in polls, Modi govt unleashing vendetta against Vadra: Cong

The Congress on Friday slammed the ED raids against Robert Vadra's associates and claimed that sensing defeat in state polls, an "unnerved" Modi government was unleashing "vendetta" against party chief Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law to divert the narrative.

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is acting like a don".

There was no immediate reaction from the BJP on Congress's comments.

The Congress attack came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Friday carried out searches against three people linked to Vadra in connection with its probe into alleged "commissions received by some suspects in defence deals" and illegal assets stashed abroad.

This is for the first time that Vadra's associates have been linked to alleged commissions received in defence deals by the ED.

"Sure shot defeat in five states has unnerved Prime Minister Modi to again use the same old trick -- unleash revenge and vendetta against Mr. Robert Vadra to divert the narrative," Surjewala alleged at a press conference.

Instead of acting as independent investigative agencies, the CBI, the ED and the Income Tax department are acting as "personal slaves and political agents" of Modi, he claimed.

Politics of revenge and malicious vendetta have today reached its nadir, he said.

Surjewala also alleged that in the past 54 months, the Modi government has let loose a criminal conspiracy to "vilify, denigrate and malign" Vadra to settle political scores.

"As all else failed, the Modi government has unleashed all its agencies including ED, CBI and Income Tax to victimise Robert Vadra in an utterly mala fide manner," he alleged.

Surjewala claimed that in a "brazen affront" to the rule of law and to Constitution, on the polling day, ED officers from Jaipur and Delhi raided the office of Vadra in Sukhdev Vihar and the residence of his associate, the associate's sister and her in-laws at Noida, without any FIR or search warrant.

He also pointed to Vadra's lawyer statement that all this was done without even registration of an offence or an FIR against Vadra and there was an apprehension over planting of false and fabricated material in their office.

"Over last four-and-a-half years, this is the consistent vicious design of the Modi government to settle political scores against all opponents including over the dozen senior leaders of the Congress party," he alleged.