Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday attacked the Narendra Modi government for targeting opposition leaders including RJD leader Lalu Prasad using the CBI to "intimidate and harass them" and asked who the next target will be.
"The BJP government uses the CBI to target key opposition politicians to intimidate and harass them.
"Now, a news report reveals how the CBI was pressured to file a case against @laluprasadrjd, ignoring the advice of its own legal team. Who will Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) target next?" tweeted Gandhi adding hashtag #VendettaPolitics.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that his party unequivocally condemns any act of political vendetta indulged by the Modi government.
"Now that the BJP has only few months left in power, it should count its days and be ready to face the people's wrath," he said, adding that "denigrating the credibility of institutions by misusing them to target political opponents is the sole agenda of the Modi government".
"Media reports suggest that the 'Directorate of Prosecution', which is the CBI's legal wing, and the Economic Offences Division of the CBI have different opinions on filing an FIR in a case against former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad.
"This chasm within the CBI has surfaced when the Modi government has left no stone unturned to file series of cases against their political opponents. CBI clearly has become a 'Captive Bureau of Investigation' in the hands of the Modi government," he added.
He said that BJP has unleashed the state machinery on Congress leaders like Virbhadhra Singh, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, P. Chidambaram, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot.
"All have been prime targets of the BJP in recent times. All these instances indicate a definite pattern to target political opponents," he added.
--IANS
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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