Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday asked bureaucrats to introspect for how long they could sustain Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vendetta politics that falsely targeted Opposition leaders, arguing that the witch-hunt had created a grave situation in the country.

Addressing the media after two days of street protests, police repression and Rahul Gandhi’s grilling by the Enforcement Directorate, Gehlot said: “The misuse of the Enforcement Directorate, CBI and the income-tax department has created a grave situation in the country. They have created terror. Democracy is in peril. The officials, chairpersons and directors will have to think… for how long can they sustain this. Officials tell us privately that they have to do it because of pressures from the top.”

Gehlot added: “They say privately that around 20 days are required to conduct a survey before a raid… to gather information. But they are told in the night to raid tomorrow. They have to give a message, no matter whether anything substantial is found in the raid or not. The case in which notices were sent to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was closed in 2015. The case was reopened to harass the family. The intention is to destroy the credibility of the Gandhi family, which has made enormous sacrifices for the country.”

Pointing out that everybody is equal before the law, the Rajasthan chief minister said: “But the ED-CBI tamasha is happening for eight years. Everybody is frightened. Mumbai or Calcutta, we see raid raj everywhere. We are seeing for the first time that nobody can walk on the road. Nobody can protest. We can’t enter our party headquarters. We were asked for a list of 15 people who will enter our party office. This is the situation in the national capital. I was not allowed to meet our colleagues at Mandir Marg police station.”

Gehlot added: “They are now governing shamelessly. They have no respect for public opinion. The country knows politics of vendetta is going on. But they are not worried. They only have to make India a Hindu rashtra.”

He warned the media that people would not forgive them if they didn’t speak the truth.

Pointing out that the same language was spoken in Germany during Hitler’s regime, Gehlot said: “We have appealed to the Prime Minister to address the nation. This is not a demand, this is an earnest appeal — the Prime Minister should clearly tell people communal violence will not be tolerated and everybody should live peacefully. But they are ashamed of issuing this appeal. Communal tension is their creation. It has spread all over the country. People are living in fear. Rahul Gandhi rightly said they sprinkled kerosene on the country.”

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said: “The conspiracy is to suppress the Opposition. They are only targeting political opponents and sections of the media and corporate houses that are not in their control.”