Centre misusing agencies for political gains, move will boomerang: Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP-led Centre on Monday of misusing probe agencies for political gains and asserted that the tactic would boomerang on the saffron party as people have now become aware of it.

The veteran Congress leader's remarks after the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting at the AICC headquarters here came while talking to reporters on a day his son, Vaibhav Gehlot, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in a foreign exchange violation case.

The federal agency issued a summons to Vaibhav Gehlot (43) last week, asking him to appear before the investigating officer of the case at its headquarters on A P J Abdul Kalam Road here under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

"There is nothing in the case. It is a 12-year-old matter with nothing in it. They also raided the premises of the Rajasthan Congress chief, did not interrogate him, but stayed put at his place. There is a reaction to all this in Rajasthan and this will boomerang on them," Ashok Gehlot told reporters.

The ED action on the orders of those at the Centre, be it in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, will work to the Congress's advantage as people have now become aware of such tactics of the BJP, he said.

"They (BJP) did this in Karnataka against D K Shivakumar and there were 22 raids against him. But who won the polls? It was the Congress. The same will happen in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh," he asserted.

People will give a fitting reply to those BJP leaders on whose orders these raids are being conducted, the Rajasthan chief minister said.

"Today, the raids of these agencies are no longer important. People have come to know very well that in the (Narendra) Modi government, such raids are conducted only for political gains," he added.

"The more they do this, the more we will benefit," Ashok Gehlot said.

Vaibhav Gehlot is the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association and a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Following the ED summons, he had said the agency was putting up "10-12 years old false allegations" against him and that too "after election dates were declared".

The 200-member Rajasthan Assembly will go to polls on November 25 and the results will be announced on December 3, along with the outcome of the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana elections.

The ED recorded Vaibhav Gehlot's statement in accordance with the provisions of the FEMA, under which legal proceedings are civil in nature.