New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday lashed out at the centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a day after the probe agency set the wheels in motion to investigate illegal sand mining in Uttar Pradesh when party president Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister. The party has alleged that the probe is a result of political vendetta.
The agency, however, tightened the noose around Yadav, claiming that his office had cleared 13 projects on a single day, persons familiar with the development said.
Yadav, who also held the mining portfolio for sometime, had cleared 14 leases, of which 13 were cleared on 17 February, 2013, according to the probe agency.
CBI claimed that the leases were granted by the district magistrate of Hamirpur, B. Chandrakala, after getting approval from the chief minister’s office in violation of its 2012 e-tender policy, which was ratified by the Allahabad high court on 29 January, 2013.
The CBI action turned into a political slugfest, and the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day after SP and Bahujan Samaj Party members of Parliament (MPs) stormed into the well of the House, on Monday, demanding that the “misuse of CBI” be stopped.
Agencies such as the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate were being used to selectively target members of the opposition ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, told mediapersons outside the House.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party have not spared anyone, be it from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC) or any other party such as the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), and DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam). This is an attempt to stop the ‘gathbandhan’ and when people want to join the gathbandhan, there will be fresh CBI cases against them,” Azad added.