What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha, who has been summoned by the ED in the Delhi liquor policy case, on Thursday accused the BJP-led government of misusing Central agencies ahead of polls.
Kavitha, who is an MLC of the Bharath Rashtra Party (BRS), also said that she will appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 11.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, the BRS leader sought to link the ED summons with her planned demonstration in New Delhi in demand of the Women’s Reservation Bill, stating that the summons came soon after she declared to hold a protest on March 10.
“As of now, 17 parties have confirmed their presence. Before our planned protest, the ED asked me to appear on March 9. I told them that I have my engagements on March 10 and will appear on March 16,” she said.
Hitting out at the ED, she said, “The law supports women to get the agencies to question us at home. I told the ED that they can bring other accused to my home if they want to confront me with them. But they refused. There should be a system in which women are questioned at home or through video conferencing. We will approach the court for the same.”
She assured full cooperation with the agency in its investigation of the case, which pertains to alleged irregularities in the formation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy for the year 2022-23.
Continuing her tirade against the BJP government, Kavitha said, “There are elections in Telangana in November and December. And the modus operandi of the BJP is to send the Central agencies behind the Opposition parties in poll-bound states.”
Mocking Central agencies, the BRS leader said that they prepare the groundwork before PM Modi sets foot in poll-bound states for campaigning.
“I want to ask PM Modi, to share the work they have done for the people and to win their hearts. We didn’t allow their plan to succeed in Telangana and we will fight and won’t get scared,” she said.
She also pointed out the extensions being given to the ED director SK Mishra and other top officials of SEBI and SBI.
“It is being done so that they act on the orders given by them (BJP leaders),” she added.
The ED has mentioned the name of Kavitha in its charge sheet. It has also been alleged that she changed her 10 phones in the last 2 years and was also part of the South Group in the excise policy case.
In its remand report, the ED alleged that Pillai had represented Kavitha’s “benami interests” in a firm in which he’s a partner.
In its latest remand application, the ED called Pillai one of the key suspects in the case, alleging that he was “instrumental in creating a cartel to recover the money paid in kickbacks”.
The ED further claimed that Pillai is a partner in a firm called ‘Indospirits’, which obtained an “L-1” — a licence for wholesale distribution. According to ED, Pillai owns 32.5 per cent of the firm and represented Kavitha’s “interests” in it.
The ED claims that in exchange for the kickbacks, Indospirits was made one of the most profitable wholesalers in Delhi. It also claims that the policy was manipulated to increase the profit margin for wholesalers so half of it can be extracted as kickbacks.
Addressing the press conference, Kavitha called for political unity for the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill.
“We request the prime minister, all the Opposition parties and President Droupadi Murmu to get the Women’s Reservation Bill passed in Parliament,” said, adding that the BJP promised the legislation in its manifesto for the 2014 general elections.
“Despite getting the majority in the Lok Sabha in 2014 and 2019, the government has not got it passed,” she said.
