ED should be disbanded, there are agencies to probe economic offences: Akhilesh

Bhubaneswar: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) should be disbanded as there are other agencies to investigate economic offences.

Speaking to reporters at the Bhubaneswar airport, Yadav said that when the Congress was in power, it had set up the ED despite opposition from some parties, and now, it is in trouble because of this agency.

"I would like to speak on ED rather than National Herald. The Congress has created ED, and is now in trouble because of the same organisation. I earlier told a very senior journalist that there are several institutions like the Income Tax Department to look into economic offences. Therefore, there is no need to have the ED. It should be disbanded," he said when asked about the nationwide protests against the agency by Congress.

Yadav alleged the BJP-led government at the Centre was indiscriminately using agencies like the CBI and ED against political opponents.

"There is no non-BJP leader in Maharashtra who has not been threatened of the ED, CBI or the I-T Department," he claimed.

The Congress has been protesting across the country after the ED filed a charge sheet against its leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, in the National Herald case, accusing them of laundering Rs 988 crore.

From the airport, Yadav went to the residence of Congress leader Srikant Jena, sparking speculations that the former Union minister might join the Samajwadi Party.

Both Yadav and Jena rejected the speculations while addressing a press conference after the meeting, which was also attended by leaders of the Left parties and the RJD.

"We are meeting leaders of different like-minded parties who work for social justice," Yadav said.

"To fulfil Babasaheb Ambedkar's dream of equality, respect, and inclusivity, I have come here to meet Jena, who is secular and democratic. With the dream of Ambedkar, the SP aims to expand in Odisha," he added.

Jena said that meeting Yadav does not mean he was joining the Samajwadi Party.

"I am in Congress and will continue to remain so. He is part of our INDIA bloc. We pledge to work for social justice in the country," he said.

Yadav said he was fully supporting the stand of southern CMs, including Tamil Nadu's MK Stalin, on the issue of delimitation.

"Delimitation should be done after the caste census in the country," he said.

Yadav claimed that the BJP-led government at the Centre might undertake the delimitation exercise not on the basis of any specific formula, but according to what suits it, as was done in Jammu and Kashmir.

Asked about the success of the BJP's 'double engine' governance model, Yadav said the two engines in Uttar Pradesh are moving in separate lines.

"I do not know what is happening in Odisha. Synchronised governance in the state and at the Centre has not met its anticipated goals," he said.

On the allegations of the BJP about the violence over the Waqf Amendment Act in West Bengal's Murshidabad, Yadav said, "Mamata Banerjee is the chief minister of the state and I believe that no CM will like to create disturbance in her own state."

"Let me tell you a reality. At Kannauj and some other places in UP, BJP members kept meat in temples and created riots. The BJP can go to any extent to create disharmony among people," he alleged.

Yadav then left for Puri, where he is supposed to visit the 12th-century Jagannath temple.

The state BJP criticised Yadav, stating that people remember his five-year rule in UP.

"There was no law of the land in UP during Akhilesh Yadav's government. Goons, anti-social and corrupt people were ruling the roost. Therefore, the people have rejected him," state BJP president Manmohan Samal said.