New Delhi: The Congress has slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for naming Bhupesh Baghel as a beneficiary of Rs 508 crore in the Mahadev betting app case four days ahead of the first phase of polls in Chhattisgarh. Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary (organisation) K.C.Venugopal, have alleged that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has misused the ED by dragging the Chhattisgarh chief minister’s name into the case to tarnish his image days before the people vote. Baghel is the latest opposition leader to be put under the ED’s scanner, provoking multiple opposition leaders to come down heavily on the Union government’s alleged misuse of central investigation agencies.The ED said that an email statement from a suspect in the Mahadev betting app scam showed that the app promoters paid bribes worth Rs 508 crore to Baghel, and around Rs 5.39 crore cash that was supposed to be delivered for the Congress’s poll expenditure was seized by them last week from a hotel in Raipur. Several suspects are being tracked in the Mahadev betting app probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that began in July 2022. Actors like Ranbir Kapoor have also been called by the ED for questioning earlier. Baghel is the latest name that has popped up.Baghel has questioned the role of the Union government, which blocked the app in India only this Sunday. “I have already said the BJP, anticipating its defeat in the Chhattisgarh polls, has put the ED and [income tax department] in front. The person [referring to ‘cash courier’ Asim Das] who has been arrested [by the ED] is said to be close to the BJP and the vehicle [from where the cash allegedly linked to the Mahadev betting app was seized] also belongs to some BJP leader. So, the person and the vehicle belong to them, while the ED which has taken action functions as a BJP wing,” the Congress leader alleged, asking the ED to freeze the suspected bank accounts used for online betting immediately.Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Photo: BhupeshBaghelCG/FacebookBoth Congress and other opposition leaders have questioned the timing of the accusation against Baghel. Each time the BJP stares at a possible defeat in elections, agencies like the ED drag opposition leaders and their aides as accused in different cases, they said. They have also pointed out that the ED has named Baghel in the Mahadev probe on the basis of a video released by one of the primary accused persons in the case, but has no concrete proof to back his claims. They have also questioned the ED for naming a chief minister in its statement without any preliminary investigation into the claims made in the video.Baghel’s name popping up just ahead of polling, to many observers, cements the perception that the central investigation agencies are being used by the ruling BJP for political gains, especially since the agencies have barely moved forward in similar cases of financial fraud registered against BJP leaders or those who have switched over to its camp from other parties in recent years.More often than not, it is BJP leaders who reveal details about the ED’s actions against opposition leaders. Even as the agency conducts raids without divulging many details about the charges, BJP leaders reveal them to the press.This was evident in the cases against Aam Aadmi Party leaders in the Delhi excise policy case, and also with Baghel. The BJP first released the video in which the suspect named Baghel. The ED issued a press release naming the Chhattisgarh chief minister only later. Congress leaders said the BJP amplified the charges against Baghel much more than the ED – a phenomenon that the Congress leaders called “a clear-cut conspiracy” to tarnish Baghel ahead of the elections. Two approaches?In such a context, the Congress highlighted an alleged video of Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s son in a conversation with purported representatives of mining companies, directing them to transfer crores of rupees to different bank accounts. Congress leaders have demanded that the ED should also look into the matter with the same urgency in which Baghel was named in the Mahadev app probe.The clip, just over six minutes, allegedly shows Devendra and another person speaking about someone called ‘Tyagi’ who could give Rs 100 crore through a retired Reserve Bank of India commissioner. However, the other person says that the deal has to be ‘finalised’ first. Then they speak about financial transactions with one Harpreet Gill. Devendra’s father Tomar is contesting the assembly elections from the Dimani seat in Madhya Pradesh. Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar. Photo: X/@DevendraPSTomarSpeaking at a press briefing in Bhopal, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate asked whether the ED or the BJP will act similarly after a video purportedly showed Union minister Tomar’s son Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar discussing funds amounting to Rs 100 crore with a man alleged to be representing the mining lobby. BJP leaders and the ED have remained tight-lipped about the video, even as Tomar’s son filed a police complaint against the clip. Devendra Pratap claimed that the clip was doctored. The Congress, however, has demanded a judicial inquiry and called for the Union minister to step aside until the probe is complete. “Narendra Singh Tomar is a powerful man not just in Delhi, but also in Madhya Pradesh. A free and fair investigation isn’t possible until his son is arrested,” Shrinate said. Other Congress leaders like Kamal Nath demanded an inquiry by the ED, CBI, and the Income Tax department against Tomar and asked the agencies to immediately verify the authenticity of the video. Shrinate said that since the discussion is about five different bank accounts for alleged funding, the video should immediately be a matter of investigation. She said that the person in conversation with Tomar’s son spoke about Krishna Menon Marg in New Delhi, where the Union minister also stays. She said the matter is extremely significant as Tomar was the minister of mines and iron ore in the Modi cabinet before his term as agriculture minister. Congress’s media coordinator in Madhya Pradesh Piyush Babele said, “Dear ED, CBI, Income Tax, this video is going viral. Please check its authenticity. In this video, BJP candidate and Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s son Devendra Tomar seems to be discussing transactions worth crores of rupees. Please investigate and clarify whether it is a matter of black money or white money in between the model code code of conduct. (sic)”With both parties locking horns over the charges against Baghel and Tomar’s son, the Congress sought an appointment with the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Delhi and Bhopal and also filed a complaint against possible illegal financing of elections by the BJP leader. However, the ECI told the Congress that it was busy and could meet only after polling concludes on Tuesday.Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Congress’s senior leader, told the press that the party wanted the ECI to take note of the video and also “ban the objectionable statements of the ED, which are clearly aimed at disrupting the free and fair elections.” “It is definitely an attempt to obstruct free and fair elections, it is definitely an attempt to muddy the field because the BJP knows that they are losing badly, it is definitely an attempt to paint a black picture where they know that the janata realise the achievements of the Congress government,” Singhvi said.“The ED’s press notes levelling all sorts of allegations went against the basic structure of providing a level playing field to all the parties in the elections,” he said, and added that the BJP and the ED “appeared to be working in close coordination, as first it is the BJP that issues a video, which is followed by a press release by the ED”.