Govt Using ED, CBI To Harass Opposition Leaders: Yechury

CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday accused the government of using the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI to harass opposition leaders and challenged it to reveal the conviction rate in such cases in the last nine years.
    
Speaking at the Lokmat Conclave, he also denied any rift among the opposition parties.
    
"We are nothing against a probe by investigative agencies. But in the last nine years, in all ED cases that you have started, what is the conviction rate in those cases? 0.5 per cent? If you are saying that you are catching only those that have broken laws, then why aren't convictions happening?" he said.
    
"This only proves that ED and CBI are being used to harass opposition leaders, to disorient them, and to ensure that their unity breaks down. This agenda is very clear," he added.
    
Yechury also questioned how the cases of those opposition leaders who have been named in probes and joined the BJP thereafter "disappear".
    
"The people on whom cases have been started have left their parties and joined the BJP. Their cases have disappeared. How?" he said.
    
He also said that historically alliances of political parties in India have occurred post-poll.
    
"All Mahagathbandhans have been made post polls historically. Be it the United Front government, both the UPA governments we formed after the election," Yechury said, responding to a query on opposition unity.
    
Replying to another query, he said democracy has lost maturity in the last nine years because it is limited only to voting and elections without any accountability to people.
    
Giving an example, the CPI-M leader asked why the government is "not constituting a JPC on the Adani-Hindenburg issue, which means that the government is staying away from accepting responsibility".
    
When democracy was in danger during the Emergency, the Opposition united, and today when democracy is again in danger, the opposition is getting united again, he further said.