While an anti-corruption court in Jammu on Tuesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of former Jammu and Kashmir minister Choudhary Lal Singh in a money laundering case by five more days, his arrest has snow-balled into a big political issue as his supporters have charged BJP with misusing central agencies to stifle dissent voice.
Former MLA Kanta Andotra, wife of Choudhary Lal Singh, has repeatedly alleged that his husband is implicated in a politically motivated case to stop him from highlighting the misdeeds of BJP leaders.
She alleged that central agencies are functioning on the directions of some BJP leaders who wanted to "politically eliminate" Choudhary Lal Singh before the Lok Sabha elections by denting his image.
"It is simply a political vendetta as the BJP-led central government is using federal agencies against its opponents to harass, humiliate, and defame them. They have nothing to prove against us and we are not going to bow down before the BJP," Andotra said.
Supporters on the streets to corner BJP
Amid debate over the arrest of Choudhary Lal Singh by the federal agency, his supporters seized this opportunity to "expose" BJP in Jammu province for humiliating a pro-Jammu leader, who is pursuing an agenda to protect the political and economic rights of the people of Jammu.
Although Choudhary Lal Singh is a force in Samba and Kathua districts, his supporters are on the streets in many parts of Jammu province to express their solidarity with their leader.
Singh's supporters are holding protest rallies in different parts of Jammu province, especially in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur, and Reasi districts to target the BJP.
Singh's supporters alleged that Singh was being deliberately harassed as the BJP was feeling threatened by its potential opponents ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year.
"Our leader has a spotless political career and this is the reason for us to come on the roads," they said.
A protest demonstration in Kathua criticized the ED's actions, with Lal Singh's younger brother alleging political motives and claiming that BJP leaders feared his growing political stature.
Various political figures, including Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Ravinder Sharma and senior CPI(M) leader M.Y. Tarigami, have criticized Lal Singh's arrest.
Harsh Dev Singh, president of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, accused the ruling BJP of using central investigation agencies against opposition parties, describing the situation as a dictatorship.
Lal Singh's ED custody was extended by five days
An anti-corruption court on Tuesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Lal Singh in a money laundering case by five more days.
On November 7, Lal Singh was remanded in seven-day custody by a local anti-corruption court in Jammu, a day after the ED arrested him in a money laundering case.
His anticipatory bail application had been dismissed by a special court. However, relief was granted to his wife, former legislator Kanta Andotra, and their daughter in connection with a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) related to the family-run educational trust.
The court ordered the ED to produce the accused on November 18 through virtual mode only and also directed the investigating officer to expedite the investigation.
Fearing backlash BJP divided over the arrest of Lal Singh
Although supporters of Lal Singh are targeting only the BJP for getting their leader arrested in a "fake" case, the local leadership of the Saffron Party is also divided on this issue- fearing backlash.
Sitting Lok Sabha member from Jammu-Poonch and senior leader of the party Jugal Kishore Sharma refused to speak on this issue.
Instead of speaking in a unanimous voice on this issue, BJP leaders are speaking in different languages over the arrest of Lal Singh.
"I am not aware of any development in this issue. I do not know what is the case", Jugal Kishore Sharma said while feigning ignorance over the arrest of Choudhary Lal Singh by the ED.
"Instead of asking me these questions you better ask such queries from the Enforcement Directorate", Jugal Kishore Sharma.
Sources said that BJP leaders are divided over the timing of action taken against Choudhary Lal Singh, who has political influence in many pockets of Jammu province.
"There is a feeling among BJP leaders that the arrest of Choudhary Lal Singh by ED before Diwali would prove disastrous for the party in some areas because a narrative has been created that Singh was intentionally arrested before the festival to teach him a lesson", sources said and added that some party leaders of the opinion that supporters of Choudhary Lal Singh will play a victim card.
Who is Choudhary Lal Singh?
Founder of the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) Choudhary Lal Singh is a two-time Lok Sabha member and three-time MLA.
Singh switched from Congress to the BJP in 2014 and was also a minister in the previous PDP-BJP government, which collapsed in June 2018.
Singh had been a two-time Lok Sabha member from Udhampur-Kathua parliamentary constituency and a three-time MLA from Basohli.
Last time, he was elected MLA during the 2014 assembly elections as a BJP nominee after he had quit the Congress and joined the Saffron Brigade. He was later inducted as a cabinet minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government.
Later, he floated his own party, Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan, and even contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from both the Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Kathua constituencies, but lost in both places.
