ED Raids Former Rajasthan Minister's Jaipur Residence; Congress Leader Alleges BJP Disrespects Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

On Tuesday (15 April), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated investigations at the Jaipur home of Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, a Congress leader and former Rajasthan transport minister under the Ashok Gehlot administration.

While an official statement from the ED is yet to be released, Indian Express anticipated that the searches are related to the purported Pearl Agro Corporation Limited (PACL) scam.

During the political turmoil in August 2020, the ED issued a notice to Khachariyawas, his father, and brother, concerning their purported participation in the PACL case linked to border land transactions.

The accusation was that PACL had unlawfully gathered funds from the public through collective investment schemes, with the intention of allocating plots across various regions of the country, or offering the option to reclaim their anticipated land value instead of the assigned plot upon the scheme's maturity.

At that time, Khachariyawas responded to the summons by reporting to the ED office in Jaipur, where he underwent several hours of questioning. However, today, he accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of political vendetta.

"They aren’t ashamed. This is the home of the BJP’s founding member and former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s younger brother Laxman Singh Shekhawat, this is not Pratap Singh Khachariyawas’s house. You are not loyal even to Bhairon Singh," he was quoted as saying.

Khachariyawas stated that his father, Laxman, is now over 85 years old and his mother has been ill for the past six weeks. Upon the arrival of his supporters at his home, who began to chant anti-BJP slogans, he declared that the BJP has essentially "dug its own grave."

“ED, IT, and these agencies have a right to come (and investigate). We will cooperate; I am not scared. The BJP government is corrupt, so it should be scared, not me. I am not bothered,” he said, alleging that no notice was given to him by the central agency and they turned up directly for the raids.