Punjab Congress today condemned the CBI raids at the premises of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, saying raids were part of Centre's "political vendetta" against Congress and its leaders.
"Setting a shocking example of politics stooping to its lowest ebb, the Modi government raided Virbhadra Singh's residence at a time when his elder daughter, Meenakshi was getting married.
"On one side, entire family including guests from bride and bridegroom's sides were proceeding to the temple for marriage, Modi government, blinded by personal revenge, was raiding the residence of the Chief Minister," state Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa said in a statement here.
The Congress leader alleged that BJP government's "lust for settling political rivalry has made it alien to India's culture and tradition of not disrupting marriage of a daughter".
"This inhumane, cruel and revengeful behaviour is characteristic of personal style of Modi," he alleged.
The former Gurdaspur MP said the "Congress stoutly and strongly deprecates, abhors and condemns the politics of revenge and vendetta unleashed by Modi and BJP government, converting CBI as a BJP's Investigation Bureau against political opponents."
"These fascist tendencies are the very anti-thesis of healthy democracy which Congress party stands for. Our resolve to fight the dictatorial, autocratic and vendetta driven politics of Modi and his ilk only becomes stronger and more resolute by such lowly acts of partisan political vendetta," he said.
He also claimed there was nothing new in the allegations made against Virbhadra Singh.
"The same unsubstantiated allegations regarding his income tax returns were raised by the BJP during the 2012 assembly elections with a view to tarnish his image who was leading the Congress campaign in the State at that time. Much hype was created about these allegations and a malicious propaganda was launched by the BJP.
"However, the people of the State saw through the plans of the BJP and returned Congress to power with a thumping majority," he said.
In an unprecedented action on a serving Chief Minister, CBI today raided the official residence of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Shimla and 12 other places in connection with an alleged disproportionate assets case on a day his daughter was getting married.
