“Modi government making central agencies dance on its tunes”: Rahul Gandhi

News Desk: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday lashed out at the Centre alleging that the Narendra Modi government is misusing Central agencies to intimidate those supporting farmers’ protest.

Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said that the Modi government making central agencies dance on its tunes and carrying out raids on those speaking against its policies. He put out three popular Hindi idioms – ‘Ungliyon pe nachana’, Bheegi billi banna’ and Khisiyani billi khamba neeche’ associating them with the current context.

“Some Idioms: Dancing to someone else’s tune – Central government does this with IT Dept-ED-CBI. Scaredy-cats – friendly media in front of the central government. Like a cat on hot bricks – like the central government makes a raid on the supporters of the farmer (sic),” the Congress leader tweeted (roughly translated from Hindi).

Gandhi’s attack came a day after the Income Tax Department conducted raids at the properties of film director Anurag Kashyap and actor Taapsee Pannu in Mumbai.

According to the officials, the searches were part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films and carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune. It also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed, they added.

Meanwhile, the searches by the Income Tax Department at the commerce centre of KWAN Talent Management Agency in Mumbai continued for the second day. The raids had started on Wednesday.

Notably, both Pannu and Kashyap have been outspoken and critical of the policies of the BJP-led government at the Centre. They have also extended support to the farmers protesting against the three new farm laws.

On Wednesday, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav had also slammed the Centre over the raids, terming it as a “political vendetta”.

“BJP misuses institutions like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), and IT Department for political benefits. It is a political vendetta. There is a dictator who does not want to listen to voices against him. He destroyed all institutions,” he had said.