Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday suggested the abolition of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and said the Congress had made the “ED law” when it was in power despite opposition from several parties.
His comments came amid a political storm over the ED’s prosecution complaint against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among others, in the National Herald case. Terming the ED action vendetta politics, the Congress has launched a nationwide protest against it.
Speaking to reporters in Bhubaneswar during a two-day visit to Odisha, Yadav also urged the Congress to demand the abolition of the ED.
“The Congress made the ED law. You must be aware that many parties opposed the law at that time and warned that it could ultimately cause trouble to you… I could be wrong, but I think departments like ED should be abolished,” the SP chief said.
He said that having an agency like the ED, despite the existence of the Income Tax department and GST, showed a lack of faith in the other agencies.
Akhilesh Yadav also called out what he termed the “misuse” of agencies by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
“Though I can’t talk about other states, I have information about Maharashtra, where any leader who was against the BJP couldn’t be protected against action by the ED, CBI and Income Tax,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister claimed.
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On Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin’s decision to form a committee on more autonomy for states, Yadav said no state should be discriminated against. “The makers of the Constitution created a federal system after much deliberation… There shouldn’t be any intervention on the federal structure,” he said.
Reiterating the demand for a caste census, Yadav said he shares the concern of the southern states over the issue of delimitation. “Delimitation will only be held once there is a census. When the census is conducted, we will demand a caste census. The first step is a caste census,” he said.
“There was a day when we fought against Congress, demanding caste census… I am happy that Congress today has acknowledged that there should be a caste census… without which ensuring social justice is not possible,” Yadav said.
On his two-day trip, Yadav is scheduled to visit the Jagannath Temple in Puri. Before proceeding to Puri, Yadav visited the residence of Congress leader and former Union minister Srikant Jena, who has been vocal on the issue of social justice in Odisha.
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