The Enforcement Directorate summons to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case, and raids at Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra’s official residence in the paper leak matter became an occasion for the Congress to display a united front.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot questioned the timing of the raids and the summon and called them “suspect, politically motivated and a sign of BJP’s imminent loss”.
Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Mr. Pilot said the FEMA case in which the Chief Minister’s son had been summoned was 12 years old.
“When they feel that they can’t win the elections through the mandate of the people, then they engage these agencies,” Mr. Pilot said.
On Thursday, the ED raided Mr. Dotasra’s residence in connection with paper leaks of recruitment exams in Rajasthan.
Political signal of unity
By fielding Mr. Pilot, who had consistently raised the issue of paper leaks under the Ashok Gehlot government, the Congress sent a political signal of trying to bury the past.
And the Congress Working Committee (CWC) member, who had once rebelled against his own government, stuck to a near-perfect script.
When reporters asked him about Mr. Gehlot’s comment made at a press conference last week that the Chief Minister’s position may not leave him in the future as well, Mr. Pilot replied, “None knows what is there in the womb of the future. We are all working in the present. Of course, we take lessons from the past”.
“Right now, our collective effort is to win the Rajasthan elections with overwhelming majority. Who will get what responsibility will be decided by the party in the future,” he added.
The Congress leader who had even agitated against his own government not too long ago, took care to dispel any notion that he had abandoned the cause.
He said the Congress stands for action against the corrupt but the agencies must act with proof and not be tool for carrying out political vendetta.
Asserting that youth from low income families suffer the most in the event of a paper leak, Mr. Pilot said that some of the concerns raised by him had been addressed to a great extent.
“The AICC leadership took note and now there is provision for life imprisonment for those who are involved in paper leaks,” he said.
