Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot repeatedly used the word “kutte” (dogs) for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as the Congress on Friday staged a massive protest against the central agency in Jaipur.

Though Gehlot was only quoting Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, his repeated use of the word “kutte” betrayed his anguish over what the Congress described as a sinister ploy to derail the party’s campaign in the election-bound state. Gehlot conceded that he was angry, declaring that “the countdown to Narendra Modi’s ouster had begun”.

Gehlot said: “The Chhattisgarh chief minister said more ED officials are roaming around than stray dogs. A chief minister using such expressions shows how anguished he was. He is being harassed by the ED almost daily. He must have felt compelled to say this.”

Gehlot’s tenor and content of argument sounded like an endorsement of what Baghel had said.

Baghel was asked around three weeks ago in Raipur about the BJP’s claim that the Congress leaders were scared of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he responded: “Yes we are scared of Modi because he puts everybody in jail. Even journalists are dumped in jail. Kutte-billi utna nahin ghoomte mohallon mein jitna ED-IT waale ghoom rahe hain (Even so many cats and dogs aren’t found roaming in colonies as the number of ED-IT officials wandering there).”

Though Baghel didn’t explicitly describe ED officials as “dogs and cats”, the BJP questioned his language.

Former Union minister Ravishankar Prasad said: “If you indulge in corruption, ED will come. If you don’t want to see ED-IT, don’t loot state resources. What is this language the chief minister is using?”

But Baghel, who has alleged that ED officials have shifted to Raipur to harass the Congress leaders daily, hasn’t backed out. On Thursday, he said at a public rally: “There is a Vishwaguru and in his hands are ED-CBI and income tax. Raids are now happening in Rajasthan. They have become tired raiding Congress leaders and businessmen here. They are roaming around Raipur, Durg, Bhilai, Bilaspur, Korba… seen in every gully and mohalla more than cats and dogs. But nobody was frightened — the Congress workers, businessmen, officials everybody was harassed but nobody got scared.”

As the Congress staged a protest outside the ED office in Jaipur, state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasara who was raided on Thursday by the ED said: “The BJP leaders have been saying for the last two months that the election will become so colourful that Dotasara won’t be able to contest. They are cowards. What’s the point of conducting raids in the midst of a campaign? Even if they send me to jail, I will come out victorious.”

Gehlot said he would be happy if the ED punished criminals and cracked down on money laundering. “But they have become political tools,” he said. “Income tax, ED and CBI are dancing to the tune of the government. They are targeting only Opposition leaders. If a corrupt person gets into the BJP washing machine, all the taint is gone. The entire country is watching,” he said.

Gehlot had on Thursday said the BJP forced the ED entry into Rajasthan because of the two guarantees announced by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — Rs 10,000 every year to the women head of the family and gas cylinder for Rs 500 to the poor. He added a few more guarantees, widening the scope of the welfare package. They include insurance up to Rs 15 lakh for natural calamity and free laptops for students of colleges and English medium schools on demand.