Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley alleged on Tuesday that the UPA government was misusing investigating agencies to falsely implicate the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and his close aides in the run-up to the general election and demanded an inquiry into their “politicisation.”
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr. Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, listed cases wherein the government allegedly manipulated the Central Bureau of Investigation and the National Investigation Agency and asked him to restore their professionalism and independence.
“The Congress’ strategy in the face if its’ depleting popularity is clear. The Congress cannot fight the BJP and Narendra Modi politically. Defeat stares at it in the face. By misuse of investigating agencies, it has so far tried various methods of falsely implicating Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat; and Amit Shah, the then Home Minister of Gujarat … and other important BJP leaders,” the letter said.
Mr. Jaitley maintained that these charges should be probed by a commission of inquiry headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge.
In July, the CBI filed its first charge sheet in the Ishrat Jehan fake encounter case, charging seven Gujarat police officers with murder and destruction of evidence. Ishrat was shot dead, along with three men, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in 2004.
D.G. Vanzara, one of the officers charged, recently wrote to Mr. Modi, alleging that the shooting was sanctioned by Mr. Amit Shah. “The CBI did not name either Mr. Modi or Mr. Shah in its charge sheet, but senior officers have said their investigation will expand to look at the possible political conspiracy and the alleged cover-up by officials of the Gujarat government,” Mr. Jaitley said.
