‘Democracy is being strangled’: CM Mann slams Centre over ED raid on Sanjeev Arora

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday came down heavily on the BJP-led Centre after the Enforcement Directorate raided the residence of state industries and power minister Sanjeev Arora, accusing the ruling party of using central agencies to intimidate non-BJP governments and throttle democracy ahead of elections.Addressing a press conference, Mann alleged that the BJP was "preparing" for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections by using the ED and issuing notices to intimidate rivals instead of winning public support. He claimed the saffron party is struggling to find even 117 candidates for the state's constituencies. "We have seen in recent times that democracy is being slowly strangled. BJP is doing politics of intimidation in the entire country. In West Bengal, the entire lot of officers, including the DGP, were changed ahead of the assembly elections. They win elections through ED, CBI, the Election Commission, and other depts used for intimidation," he said.On April 15, the ED conducted FEMA searches at the premises of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Kumar Mittal. Mittal was recently appointed the deputy leader of the AAP in the Rajya Sabha, replacing MP Raghav Chadha.The CM claimed that AAP was being specially targeted because the party was growing rapidly. It became a national party in barely 10 years. "BJP thinks they can handle Congress, and they have also been hand in glove with Congress at times, but they do not want a third force to emerge," he said."Governors have been reduced to instruments of politics. They sit on bills for years. States are being forced to approach the Supreme Court for their rights. Even after the Supreme Court made it clear that governors and the President cannot indefinitely hold up bills, matters were pushed into cold storage. Judges are transferred, their files are taken out. The question is whether they intend to spare anyone. We heard that in North Korea and Russia people simply declare themselves rulers for years. The same thing is happening here in another form."BOX: On delimitation and SIRMann accused the BJP of wanting power at any cost in states where it lacks public support. "They want to capture Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Even if for that they have to do delimitation or offer temptations, whatever temptation is needed, they just want to win."He further alleged that genuine votes of opposition supporters were being targeted and manipulated. "Through SIR, real votes are being deleted. They have created panna pradhans in every lane. They identify which homes support BJP, which support AAP and which support Congress, then opposition votes are targeted, and new votes are created. Same voters are voting in multiple states. On one hand they say one nation one election, but when two states vote there is a one-week gap.BOX: On BJP CM in BiharCommenting on BJP's Bihar leadership, Mann alleged, "They have now made Samrat Choudhary the CM of Bihar. Cases of seven murders are registered against him. He had been in jail. He gave the wrong age and changed his date of birth three times. And these are the people who keep talking about ‘jungle raj'. So what rule has now come to Bihar? Now this BJP-led jungle is good, like that advertisement says stains are good. So the stains given by BJP are considered good."Get real-time updates and result insights on the CBSE 12 Result 2026.