Amid the ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the premises of cabinet minister Sanjeev Arora, chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday accused the BJP of weaponising central agencies to coerce AAP leaders into joining their ranks.
Speaking at the district administrative complex in Sangrur as searches spanned 13 locations across Punjab, Chandigarh, and Haryana, Mann claimed the operations are part of a broader strategy to destabilise the state government.
The ED’s action follows a probe into a ₹157.12-crore goods and services tax (GST) and export fraud, targeting Arora’s residence in Chandigarh, corporate offices of Hampton Sky Realty Limited, and various associates.
“Despite multiple searches, the central agency failed to find any evidence against Sanjeev Arora,” Mann said, referring to the two earlier raids this year that drew a blank.
The crackdown comes less than 48 hours after the agency named state AAP president and cabinet minister Aman Arora in a separate money-laundering and land scam investigation. With both ministers being influential figures holding close ties to the party’s Delhi high command, the timing has rattled the state’s bureaucracy.
Mann highlighted a pattern of political shifts, citing the recent case of Rajya Sabha member Ashok Mittal, who defected to the BJP along with seven other MPs on April 24. “The BJP’s motive is not to recover black money but to send a message that joining their party ensures immunity,” Mann said, noting that raids against Mittal ceased immediately after his defection.
The chief minister criticised the federal agency for attempting to link Aman Arora to a suspect, Gaurav Dhir, based on photographs, questioning why similar logic isn’t applied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s past photos with fugitives like Vijay Mallya or Nirav Modi.
Mann asserted that Punjab would not be intimidated, referring to the state’s successful resistance during the farm laws agitation.
He said the raids were timed to overshadow his Shukrana Yatra and were a retaliation against Punjab’s strict new sacrilege laws.
Calling the BJP “Bharat Jalao Party”, Mann said the Centre should release pending rural development funds (RDF) and provide a special package for Punjab rather than using central agencies to campaign via intimidation.
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