NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government was misusing agencies like the Enforcement Directorate to create fear among opposition leaders and called the ED "supporting party" of the BJP.

Speaking to reporters in Pune ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Pawar also claimed that steps were being taken to influence elections with the help of agencies like the ED and candidates were being threatened not to contest from the opposition side.

He cited figures of the ED's actions between 2005 and 2023, claiming it registered 5,806 cases and only 25 of them have been disposed of.

"The disposal rate is 0.42 per cent and the conviction rate is just 0.40 per cent. The ED's budget has gone up from Rs 300 crore in 2022 to Rs 404 crore," the former Union minister said.

"Between 2005 and 2023, two governments were in power, including the UPA of which we were also a part. During the UPA regime, the ED investigated 26 leaders, of whom five were from the Congress and three from the BJP. It shows that during the UPA regime ED's action was not politically motivated, but after 2014, not a single BJP leader has been questioned," Pawar said.

These figures raise a doubt if the ED's actions under the BJP government were politically motivated, the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

"It indicates that the ED has become a supporting party of the BJP," he said.

"BJP leaders know about the ED's actions in advance...looks like the orders come from the BJP," Pawar claimed.

During the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh, the ED was not misused, but now the agency is being used to create fear among the opposition leaders, he alleged.

Notably, the ED has attached assets of a sugar mill owned by the company of NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, the grandnephew of Sharad Pawar.

Rohit Pawar has also been questioned by the ED twice in the past after it searched the premises of his company Baramati Agro Limited, Kannad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited and some others in January.

Talking about the ED's action against his grandnephew's firm, Sharad Pawar said the sugar mill's sale was proposed by the state government and bank.

Since the bid of Rohit's company was highest, his firm got the sugar mill, he said.

No case was made against whose who had purchased sugar mills at prices lower than Rs 25 crore, but a case was registered in the purchase of Rs 54 crore (bid by Rohit's firm), the NCP founder said.

"It shows there is an attempt to dissuade a person who is doing good work in the public life and create an atmosphere of fear. Steps are being taken to influence elections with the help of agencies such as the ED," he claimed.

Today, an atmosphere of "terror"?? is being created by using the tool of ED constantly, he added.

"When the process of finalising candidates for the election is on, directly or indirectly, threats are being given to the candidates that they should not contest elections from the opposition side, which is worrisome," he said.

Between 2005 and 2023, the ED investigated 147 leaders, Sharad Pawar said.

Of them, 85 per cent are from the opposition, including 24 from the Congress, 19 of TMC, 11 from NCP, 8 from Shiv Sena, 6 from DMK, 5 each from RJD and SP, 3 from AAP, 2 each from National Conference and PDP, and 1 each from AIADMK, MNS and TRS, he claimed.

"After the BJP came to power in 2014, action has been taken against 121 leaders from all opposition parties including one CM, a former CM, 14 former ministers and MPs and MLAs. In all this, no one from the BJP was investigated by the agency," Sharad Pawar said.

During the UPA regime, the ED had taken some action between 2004 and 2014 against 26 persons, including five from the Congress, three from the BJP, seven from the TMC and four from the DMK, he said.

"The numbers show that the ED's action during the Manmohan Singh-led UPA regime was not politically motivated. Today, the ED's action is due to political vendetta," he claimed.

On BJP MP Anant Kumar Hedge's statement that his party needs two-thirds in both houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution, Sharad Pawar said the leader has not made such remarks for the first time and stated this earlier also.

"The remarks reflect upon what is there in the mind of the BJP leadership and it is worrisome for the country. If someone is saying this publicly, then such things cannot be neglected," he said.

Hegde, known for his hardline views, had said the BJP needs a two-third majority in both houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and "set right the distortions and unnecessary additions made to it by the Congress".

The BJP on Sunday moved to defuse the row sparked by Hegde's support for amending the Constitution as it dubbed his remarks "personal opinion" and sought a clarification from him.

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