Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday morning launched a broadside at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging that the central agency was extorting money for the saffron party.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Raut said, "The ED is BJP's collection agent. The money that has gone to and continues to go into BJP's accounts is being routed through the ED. The ED is a corrupt organisation. The charges filed against Nirmala Sitharaman are because she has amassed money illegally. The ED helped her collect this money... The ED and CBI are the most corrupt organisations in this country, and if anyone is responsible for this, it is the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister."
Sanjay Raut's attack on Finance Minister Sitharaman comes a day after a special Bengaluru court ordered the registration of an FIR against Nirmala Sitharaman and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, alleging that they orchestrated a racket forcing companies to donate to the party through electoral bonds.
According to reports, after the court's order, Bengaluru's Tilak Nagar police on Saturday lodged an FIR against Sitharaman and other BJP leaders under Sections 384 (extortion), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (acts done with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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The complainant, Adarsh R Iyer, co-president of ‘Janaadhikaara Sangharsha Parishath,’ also named Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra and party leader Nalin Kumar Kateel. The complaint alleged that Sterlite and Vedanta were repeatedly raided by the ED, forcing them to buy electoral bonds worth ₹230.15 crore in April 2019, August 2022, and November 2023. Iyer provided an analysis linking ED actions to these purchases, citing the Supreme Court's observations against electoral bonds in his April 15 complaint.
