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'BJP modus operandi to send ED before Modi': Kavitha'Why was the ED in a rush to question me and choose a day before my protest?,' she asked
Shemin Joy
DHNS
Last Updated IST
K Kavitha. Credit: PTI Photo
K Kavitha. Credit: PTI Photo

Asserting that she has not done anything wrong and will face the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 11 in the Delhi excise policy case, BRS leader K Kavitha on Thursday trained guns at the BJP for the action against her saying it has unleashed "Modi se pehle ED" (ED before Modi) in poll-bound Telangana.

She also questioned the ED summoning her on Thursday, a day before her hunger strike here demanding the Women's Reservation Bill, and the agency not allowing her request to question her at her residence as per law. ED has now set the date for questioning on Saturday at her request.

At a press conference here to talk about her protest and ED summons, Kavitha said 18 parties and scores of women's organisations have supported the protest, as she questioned the BJP's stand on the issue saying its leaders have stopped talking about women's quota despite their manifesto promises.

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"Why was the ED in a rush to question me and choose a day before my protest? It could have happened a day later as well. When requests were made, well within the law, to the Enforcement Directorate to investigate me at my home, they simply refused. If they can do this to a political face, imagine how much a common person, especially a woman, would have to bear with," she said.

If needed, she said, she would approach the Supreme Court on the issue of questioning women at their residences though she would be appearing before the ED on Saturday.

"We have seen that BJP has used backdoor entry in nine states, they are unable to do it in Telangana, which is why they are using ED now, but we are not afraid. We will face the ED. We have not done anything wrong. I urge PM Modi to reduce prices, give more subsidies and jobs. What will you get by torturing people like us?" she said.

She said, "elections are due in Telangana this year. The BJP modus operandi is 'Modi se pehle ED' (send ED before Modi comes to Telangana)".

Since last June, she claimed, the government has been sending its agencies to Telangana because of elections. "More than 100 CBI raids, 200 ED raids, over 500 income tax raids, and 500 to 600 people have been questioned under the NIA. All of them are Opposition politicians or businessmen who are against BJP," she said.

She said 15-16 BRS leaders have been targeted and her request to the Prime Minister would be to go talk to people and tell them what they have done for Telangana and India. "They should try to win hearts before winning elections," she said.

"No attempts at diversion or intimidation will work on us. We will go ahead with our hunger strike for the Women’s Reservation Bill," she said.

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(Published 09 March 2023, 15:07 IST)