“ED an ally of BJP, creating terror amongst the opposition”, says Sharad Pawar

Pune(Maharshtra) [India], March 11 (ANI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday alleged that the BJP-led government is misusing agencies like Enforcement Directorate to create fear among the opposition and called ED the “supporting party” of BJP.

Speaking to the reporters in Pune Pawar cited figures of ED actions between 2005 and 2023 and mentioned that of 5906 cases registered by ED, only 25 cases have been disposed off.

“0.42 per cent is the disposal rate and the conviction rate is just .40 per cent. The ED’s budget has risen up from 300 crores in 2022 to Rs 404 crore. During this period of between 2005 and 2023, two governments were in power which includes UPA which we were also part of and during UPA’s regime, ED investigated 26 leaders of which 5 were from Congress and 3 were from BJP. It shows that during the UPA regime, ED’s action was not politically motivated but after 2014, not a single BJP leader has been questioned,” Pawar said.

“In Karnataka one of the senior member of the party was arrested and a case was done against him …later he decided to take that case in the court ….now we are getting information that …he was proved not guilty ..this prove that how Ed is being misused” Pawar said.

He added that all these figures raise doubt as to if ED’s action under BJP was politically motivated.

“It indicates that ED has become a supporting party of BJP. BJP leaders know about the ED’s actions in advance looks like these orders come from BJP,” he said.

“During the dispensation of Manmohan Singh, ED was not misused but now the agency is being used to create fear among the opposition leaders,” he said.

Earlier, Rohit Pawar the grandson of Appasaheb and, the elder brother of NCP founder Sharad Pawar has come under scanner…in a statement, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said that it has provisionally attached properties worth Rs 50.2 crore under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of the Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited (Kannad SSK sugar mill) belonging to the Baramati Agro Ltd. The action is connected with the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case.

The Baramati Agro Ltd is owned by NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew MLA Rohit Pawar. It has been alleged that the MSCB illegally sold sugar factories to M/s Baramati Agro Ltd.