In a major political development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at multiple premises linked to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP and Deputy Leader of the Upper House, Dr Ashok Kumar Mittal, on Wednesday. This comes as Mittal recently took over as the deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, replacing Raghav Chadha.
As per reports, the ED team arrived early in the morning at the home of Mittal and other eight to nine other locations linked to him, from Jalandhar in Punjab to Gurugram in Haryana. The scope of the investigation includes locations linked to his son as well.
Mittal is the founder of Lovely Professional University (LPU), and the raids are allegedly linked to the financial irregularities related to the university. Mittal, a law graduate, achieved considerable success in the field of education, and LPU is ranked among the country's largest private universities.
The ED team is closely examining documents and financial transaction records at Ashok Mittal's Jalandhar residence. Electronic devices are also being searched to gather digital evidence. However, the agency has not yet issued an official statement regarding the raid.
The raids are related to the ongoing investigation into FEMA violations by LPU.
Interestingly, the ED raids come as Mittal was named Deputy Leader of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Rajya Sabha to replace veteran AAP leader Raghav Chadha. This abrupt change in AAP's parliamentary leadership, combined with the recent crackdown by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has triggered a whirlwind within the AAP. He was elected unopposed. He currently serves as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. Although he has been a Rajya Sabha MP for four years, he gained greater attention when he replaced Raghav Chadha.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has described this raid as BJP's “election preparations”. He took to social media to post: “BJP begins preparations for the Punjab elections... ED raids the home and university of Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal. This is Modi's style. But we are not leaves that will fall from the branch."
AAP convenor reshared Bhagwant Mann's post. "Modi ji has started preparations for elections in Punjab. But the people of Punjab will not tolerate this. We will give a befitting reply to the BJP."