New Delhi [India], August 26 : After Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids against Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj's residence in the national captial on Tuesday, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said that BJP was using the central agency to threaten leaders and gain political advantage.
"The case related to the hospital is a corruption case. I dont know about the money laundering angle. But I observe a particular style of the BJP. Important anti-corruption cases in which the CBI should inquire are given to the ED. The BJP uses the ED to threaten," Dikshit said.
The Congress leader said that the BJP uses ED only to intimidate, and when needed, they withdraw the case when they don't get anything.
"...They gain political gain from it. They influenced the AAP. AAP also left the INDIA Alliance and is contesting their candidates against the INDIA Alliance. It (raids) may not be about corruption but to influence or pressure the AAP," Dikshit said.
Early this morning, the ED carried out searches at the residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj in connection with a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in hospital construction projects in the national capital.
The raids began early morning at 13 locations, including Bhardwaj's residence, across the Delhi-NCR region, based on a certain tip-off in connection with the case. The search operations are being carried out under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
These searches are in "connection with the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) recorded in the Delhi Hospital Construction Scam, relating to First Information Report (No. 37/2025) dated June 26, 2025, registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Delhi Police, against former Health Ministers of GNCT of Delhi, along with private contractors and unknown government officials."
The case stems from allegations that contracts were manipulated and funds misused, causing delays and cost escalations in crucial health infrastructure construction," the officials said.
Bhardwaj, a senior AAP leader and sitting MLA, served as Delhi's Health Minister during a period when the government announced ambitious plans to expand healthcare capacity. However, the project came under the scanner after complaints surfaced about inflated bills, non-compliance with norms, and suspected collusion between contractors and officials.
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Atishi, also called the ED raids at the residence of Bhardwaj and the case against him "baseless". She called it a move to divert attention from the row over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's education degree.
Sharing an X post, Atishi wrote, "Why was there a raid at Saurabh ji's place today? Because questions are being raised across the country about Modi ji's degree -- is Modi ji's degree fake? The raid was conducted to divert attention from this discussion."
Citing the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) closure report in the PWD corruption case against Satyendar Jain, Atishi claimed that the cases against AAP leaders are "false and politically motivated".
"The case being cited pertains to a time when Saurabh ji was not even a minister. This means the entire case is baseless. Satyendar ji was also kept in jail for three years, and ultimately, CBI/ED had to submit a closure report. This clearly shows that all the cases against Aam Aadmi Party leaders are merely false and politically motivated," the X post read.