Congress says the BJP and the ED peddled ‘shameless lies’ about the liquor scam in Chhattisgarh

There is no longer any doubt that the entire case was politically motivated, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh | Photo Credit: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh

The Congress on Wednesday alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had scripted a liquor scam in Chhattisgarh to help the BJP in the Assembly elections, and accused the ruling party of “shamelessly peddling” lies to implicate former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. 

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had used the ED, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department “to hound all INDIA bloc politicians, and his use of the washing machine to purify the BJP’s politicians”.

Taking to social media platform X, Mr. Ramesh said former IAS officer Anil Tutreja and his son, Yash, were identified as “kingpins” of a criminal syndicate of politicians, private persons and senior government officials that had siphoned off ₹2,161 crore by selling liquor illegally from 2019 to 2022. 

“The Supreme Court revealed that the Chhattisgarh ‘liquor scam’ was in fact shamelessly fabricated by the ED. The BJP, through its frontal organisation the Enforcement Directorate (ED), had shamelessly peddled this lie before the Chhattisgarh polls last year, trying to implicate former CM Bhupesh Baghel in the ‘syndicate’. There is no longer any doubt that the entire case was politically motivated,” Mr. Ramesh said on X.

Senior Congress leader and spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi asked if a scam to the tune of ₹2,161 crore had taken place, why could the ED not produce any evidence in the Supreme Court? 

Dr. Singhvi said that the Supreme Court’s decision had vindicated the Congress party’s stand that the ED had been working at the behest of the BJP government to target Opposition parties, including the Congress. 

Contesting a statement by the ED that only about 15-20% of its cases were against politicians, Dr. Singhvi said that central agency had not acknowledged that “99% of the 20% cases” were against politicians of the Opposition only.

“If it was really such a big scam, why wasn’t the ED able to give any evidence of money laundering?’ Dr. Singhvi asked.

Dr. Singhvi claimed that the BJP government in Chhattisgarh had now started misusing the Economic Offences Wing to target Opposition leaders, after having failed with the ED.