Jaipur:

Attacking the Central government on recent Enforcement Directorate raids in poll-bound Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the National Democratic Alliance government is “doing a crime” and the country “will never forgive them”.

“The NDA govt is doing a crime and the country will never forgive them…election is going on, ED keeps showing up at the houses of party leaders, keeping them (opposition leaders) busy throughout the day. BJP people are freely fighting the elections, whereas Congress leaders are being sent notices…,” Chief Minister Gehlot told reporters on Saturday in Delhi

“Even if they (BJP) lose elections in all 5 states, it won’t be surprising…ED has still not conveyed why they are raiding these political leaders and what they found so far…only BJP is talking, they have become ED’s spokesperson,” Mr Gehlot alleged.

ED on Thursday conducted raids at the residences of state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara in Jaipur and Sikar. Additionally, a coaching centre allegedly linked to Dotasara was also searched.

The ED has also summoned Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot, for questioning in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case.

Mallikarjun Kharge told ANI, “They (BJP) want to spoil Gehlot’s election and demoralise and scare Congress leader. They do it always. We won’t be scared, we will fight strongly and will face this. Whatever they are doing is not right. We have been in politics for 50 years, but ED and IT raids during election time, have never happened. But today they are doing this to scare the CM. But one day they too will have to suffer.”

Congress leader Sachin Pilot expressed suspicion about the “timing,” “objective,” and “intent” behind the raids conducted by central government agencies in Rajasthan, suggesting that the BJP might be feeling vulnerable ahead of the Rajasthan assembly elections.

Mr Pilot criticized the BJP for specifically targeting Congress leaders without factual evidence, accusing them of attempting to use central agencies to influence the election outcome.

Polling for all 200 seats in the Rajasthan Assembly will be held on November 25 and the counting of votes will be held on December 3.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)