Sangrur, May 09 — Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday accused the BJP-led Central Government of using investigative agencies to pressure Aam Aadmi Party leaders into joining the saffron party.
Reacting to the arrest of Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Mann alleged that the agency’s actions were politically motivated and intended to intimidate opposition leaders rather than investigate corruption.
“The objective of these operations is not the recovery of black money, but the forced expansion of the BJP through intimidation,” Mann said while addressing the media.
The chief minister claimed that central agencies such as the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department had lost their independence and were functioning as “political tools” of the Centre.
He alleged that repeated raids were being conducted to exert psychological and political pressure on opposition leaders.
Mann also referred to Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, alleging that investigations against him stopped after he changed his political affiliation.
“The Enforcement Directorate has adopted a strategy of conducting repetitive raids to apply psychological and political pressure,” he said.
The Punjab chief minister questioned the arrest of a sitting minister despite earlier searches allegedly yielding no substantial recovery.
“Punjab is not scared of threats,” Mann said, adding that the state had a history of resisting “tyrannical forces.”
He further alleged that the arrest of Sanjeev Arora reflected a “desperate” attempt to settle political scores and described the developments as a “murder of democracy.”
Mann said the people of Punjab would respond democratically to what he termed attempts to create fear and destabilise the elected government.
“The AAP government will continue to serve the people honestly and will not bow before the dictatorial mindset of the BJP-led government,” he added.
Recently seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs including Ashok Mittal, Raghav Chadha merged with BJP with Punjab's AAP leadership repeatedly alleging that central agencies are being used to pressure opposition leaders into switching sides, a charge denied by the BJP.