AAP Accuses BJP of Weaponizing ED Raids in Punjab

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of weaponizing federal agencies to intimidate officials and disrupt state administration ahead of upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab. The party claims the central government is attempting to obstruct the Mawan Dhiyan Satkar Yojna and the operations of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches began Tuesday at the GMADA offices and premises linked to Vikas Garg, principal secretary of Punjab’s Housing and Urban Development Department. The probe targets alleged money-laundering irregularities involving land acquisition and property transactions between GMADA and Tirupati Infraprojects. The operation expanded to include a Chandigarh bungalow used by AAP leader Satyendar Jain and the residence of Gurpreet Singh Saini in Sahnewal.

In response, AAP workers staged protests and a 'gherao' of ED teams outside the GMADA office in Mohali. Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that the central government uses investigators as political weapons whenever elections approach. The Punjab government has petitioned the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which subsequently appointed a warrant officer to monitor the search and seizure proceedings. AAP leaders maintain that the ED has failed to find incriminating evidence despite the lengthy raids.