Tripura Congress slams ED action, calls it BJP’s poll distraction tactic

The Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee staged a strong protest in Agartala on Wednesday against the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) ongoing probe involving senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. 

The party accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of weaponizing central agencies to divert public attention from pressing national issues ahead of the upcoming elections in Bihar and Kerala.

The protest, led by senior Congress legislator and former Tripura Minister Sudip Roy Barman, included a rally and a demonstration in front of the ED office in Agartala. Party workers and leaders raised slogans condemning what they described as a "politically motivated" investigation intended to malign the image of the Congress leadership.

Addressing the gathering, Sudip Roy Barman launched a fierce attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the cases against the Gandhi family were “fake” and “fabricated” to cover up critical issues plaguing the nation. “These cases are designed to tarnish the names of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi using the media, as elections approach,” he said.

He further alleged that the BJP government was deliberately shifting focus from matters such as rising unemployment, the agrarian crisis, increasing prices of life-saving drugs, and national security lapses. “The BJP is confusing the public. Where is the report on the Pulwama attack where 42 CRPF jawans lost their lives? The then J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik has himself admitted it was a mistake. Yet, the government played politics over the incident,” Roy Barman asserted.

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The Congress leader also addressed the challenges faced by farmers and youth, accusing the Modi government of neglecting core governance in favor of vendetta politics. “Nothing good is happening in the country. Farmers are dying. Youth are jobless. Prices are going up. And instead of addressing these, they’re targeting our leaders,” he said.

While emphasizing that the protest was peaceful, Roy Barman criticized the security barricades at the ED office. “We could have broken the barricades. But we respect the pain of the Tripura Police. We are not here to attack, but to convey that fascist regimes do not last long,” he said.

In a warning to the BJP, he said, “What we have learned from the Modi government, we will use against them in the future — but in a broader way. Congress is keeping detailed records, from the booth level to the national level. Nothing will be forgotten.”

He concluded by claiming that the ED’s actions were timed to influence public opinion before the elections in Bihar and Kerala. “They’ll stretch these cases till the elections are over. But people are watching. They can’t be fooled forever — the people will teach them a lesson,” he said.

Tripura Congress leaders reiterated that their protest was not against any institution but against what they termed the misuse of agencies for political purposes. The party vowed to continue raising its voice against the “oppressive” policies of the Modi government.