Rohtak MP questions timing of ED action

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, July 20

Raising questions on the timing of the raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a few Congress leaders in the state, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda said the modus operandi of the agency indicated that it was acting at the behest of the ruling party.

Speaking to The Tribune during his visit to the Narnaund Assembly constituency during the ongoing Haryana Mange Hisaab drive today, Deepender said a similar modus operandi was adopted by the ED during the Rajasthan Assembly elections.

Deepender, who began his political career in 2005 after his father Bhupinder Singh Hooda was elected the CM, said, “The BJP is obviously perturbed by the anti-BJP and pro-Congress sentiments among the people of the state. But they cannot disturb us with such targeted actions against our leaders. People will give the BJP a befitting reply for this misdemeanour and high-headedness.”

Deepender seems to have leapfrogged as the young face of the Congress leadership in the state with his padyatra. During his two-day tour in Hisar’s two Assembly constituencies—Hansi and Narnaund—a number of ticket aspirants kept him constantly surrounded.

The Congress leader said he would visit every Assembly constituency to conduct the padyatra ahead of the elections. “I am overwhelmed with the response of the people. It was evidently clear that people were upset with the BJP government and eager to overthrow the regime,” he told The Tribune. The sudden decision of the five-time MP, including four terms in Lok Sabha representing Rohtak constituency, to tour Haryana has come as a surprise for not only the BJP but many Congress leaders as well.

Dinesh Sheroan, an archaeology activist from Rakhigarhi village, said the Congress MP also visited the archaeological site in Rakhigarhi and interacted with women’s self-help groups, which sell handmade products to visitors at the archaeological site. “We raised the issue of neglect that the world-renowned Rakhigarhi site was facing,” he said, adding that the Congress MP had assured them of developing it into an international-level site and also of setting up a research institute if the Congress came to power.

At a press conference, Deepender said the BJP was scared of the questions being raised at the Haryana Maange Hisaab Abhiyan and was misusing government investigation agencies against opposition leaders. He demanded that the BJP government answer the questions being raised by the public instead of using the ED and other central investigation agencies to their benefit.