Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Maharashtra Sanjay Patil on Sunday, 24 October, stated that the central investigative agency Enforcement Directorate will not come after him as he is a BJP MP.
“The ED won’t come after me since I am a BJP MP… We have to take loan in order to purchase luxury cars worth Rs 40 lakh to show off. The ED will be surprised to see the amount of loan we have...”Sanjay Patil, as quoted by news agency PTI
Patil, elected to the Parliament from Maharashtra's Sangli, made the remark while addressing a gathering at a function that was held in the district on Sunday.
Earlier in October, a similar comment was made by BJP leader Harshvardhan Patil, a former Congress party MLA who had switched to the BJP in 2019.
"We too had to go to BJP. He (referring to someone from the opposition sitting next to him on stage) asked why did I join the BJP. I told him to ask his leader why I went to BJP... Everything is easygoing and peaceful (in BJP). I get sound sleep as there are no inquiries," Patil had been quoted as saying by PTI.
The BJP leaders' remarks come after the accusations of the BJP-led Centre's misuse of the ED, furthered by the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies – Shiv Sena, Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Central Probe Agencies Misused by BJP To Target Political Opponents: Sharad Pawar
Slamming the central government, NCP President Sharad Pawar on 13 October had said that it is "misusing the central probe agencies to target political opponents and now even the relatives of politicians."
"Central agencies like IT, CBI, ED, NCB are being used for political purposes. A new strategy and pattern seem to be emerging now targeting the relatives of political opponents," Pawar had said, as per report by news agency IANS.
The remarks were made in the light of Income Tax Department raids that were conducted on businesses linked to his three nieces, who are also the sisters of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)