Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED as the Narendra Modi government wants to weaken the opposition, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari said on Friday.
Speaking to PTI, he also exuded confidence the Congress will win at least 15 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in MP, where polling will take place in four phases between April 19 and May 13.
"Kejriwal's arrest is an attempt to weaken the opposition and wipe out the democratic system in the country. While Kejriwal was arrested, they have spared others who joined hands with the BJP. Of the 154 persons against whom there were ED and CBI probes, 121 joined the BJP and investigation stopped. But propaganda against opposition leaders (on such probes) continues," he said.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has double standards when it comes to this issue (of probes against persons by ED and CBI) and every attempt was being made to weaken the opposition.
"They (government through IT department) have frozen the accounts of the Congress just ahead of polls. It means they want to cripple the opposition financially and arrest leaders to terrorise democracy," he said.
"The BJP is forcing local level leaders from other parties to join by threatening no-confidence motion etc. Those who have business interests in sand mining, crushers, transport etc are being harassed so that they join the BJP," Patwari added.
Asked if former Union minister Suresh Pachouri joined the BJP out of "fear", Patwari said the Congress had given him a lot, but added he would not like to speak ill of him.
Asked about former MLA from Indore Sanjay Shukla joining the BJP, Patwari said he had read in the media that royalty of Rs 141 crore was pending against him.
The MP Congress chief also said those joining the BJP in Chhindwara, the only seat the opposition party had won in 2019, were persons with business interests and "contractor types".
Some 25-30 of these persons came to him and said they are joining due to severe business related problems, Patwari claimed, adding many of them will return when the BJP loses power.
Asked if Congress leader Rahul Gandhi contesting from north India will help the party in a major way, Patwari said the former had done so earlier but added "he can't leave those (Wayanad voters) who made him victorious".
Whatever the party does is well thought out and there is no bar from anyone contesting from anywhere in the country, he added.
Asked if he wanted Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to contest from Raebareli Lok Sabha seat, which is represented by Sonia Gandhi currently, Patwari said," It is not a question of what I wish. What the party wants is more important and moreover what Priyanka Gandhi wants. The party will take appropriate decisions in the interest of the organization." Patwari said he was confident the Congress would win 15 seats in MP based on the party's performance in the 2023 Assembly polls.
"There were 12-15 seats where we won or were very close to winning. We are in a position to perform better," he asserted.
Asked about MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav pointing out that the BJP has given tickets to six women for Lok Sabha polls while the figure for the Congress was just one, Patwari asserted 80 per cent of his party's candidates were below the age of 50 and the representation of SC/ST and OBCs was also very good.
The BJP must talk about promises they made during the Assembly poll campaign, like MSP of Rs2700 for wheat, Rs 3100 for paddy, Rs 3000 to women under the Ladli Behna Yojana and cylinders for Rs 450, Patwari said.
