8 political parties write to PM Modi on ‘misuse’ of governor’s post and central agencies | India News

HYDERABAD: Nine leaders of eight political parties on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the BJP government at the centre of misusing the seat of the Governor and central agencies to target the opposition parties and their leaders, which has transitioned the country from being a democracy to an autocracy.
The leaders alleged that the timings of the lodging of cases or arrests of the opposition leaders “coincided with elections” which makes it clear that the action taken was “politically motivated”.
Among the Opposition leaders who were the signatories of the letter included BRS president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, JKNC chief Farooq Abdullah, AITC chief Mamata Banerjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
However, there was no representation from Congress, JDS, JD (U), CPU, CPM in the letter.
Referring to the arrest of Manish Sisodia, the opposition leaders said the allegations against him are baseless and smack of a political conspiracy. His arrest has enraged people of the country. He is recognised globally for transforming Delhi’s school education. His arrest will be cited worldwide as an example of a political witch-hunt and further confirm what the world was only suspecting that India’s democratic values stand threatened under an authoritarian BJP regime, they wrote in the letter.

They further accused the BJP government of softening the investigation against the opposition leaders who are being probed on different cases after they joined the BJP.
Citing the example of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who was formerly a Congress leader who joined the BJP in 2015, the letter said that he was being probed by the central agencies over the Saradha chit fund scam, however, the case didn’t progress after he joined the BJP.
Of the total number of key politicians booked, arrested, raided, or interrogated by the investigation agencies under the BJP government since 2014, the maximum belongs to the opposition. Interestingly, investigation agencies go slow on cases against opposition politicians who join the BJP, the letter said.
“Former TMC leaders Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari were under the ED and CBI scanner in the Narada sting operation case but the cases didn’t progress after they joined the BJP ahead of the assembly polls in the state. There are many such examples. including that of Maharashtra’s Narayan Rane,” the letter stated.
Referring to the arrests of Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nawab Mallik, Azam Khan and others, the leaders wrote that the central agencies were working as extended wings of the BJP.
“Since 2014, there has been an increase in the number of raids conducted, cases registered, and arrests of opposition leaders. Be it Anil Deshmukh (NCP), Lalu Prasad Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Azam Khan (Samajwadi Party), Nawab Malik (NCP), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), central agencies have often sparked suspicion that they were working as extended wings of the ruling dispensation at the Centre. In many such cases, the timings of the cases lodged or arrests made have coincided with elections making it abundantly clear that they were politically motivated,” the opposition leaders wrote.
The offices of the Governors in many states in the country are acting in violation of the constitutional provisions and frequently hindering the governance of the state. They are wilfully undermining democratically elected state governments and choosing instead to obstruct governance as per their whims and fancies, the letter said.
Be it the Governor of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal or the Lt Governor of Delhi — the Governors have become the face of the widening rift between the Centre and states run by the non-BJP governments and threaten the spirit of cooperative federalism, which the states continue to nurture in spite of a lack of expression by the Centre. “As a result, the people of our country have now begun to question the role of the Governors in Indian democracy,” the letter said.