BJP damaging established institutions: Akhilesh on CBI issue

The SP chief was reacting to the ongoing turmoil in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has forced the Centre to divest the premier investigative agency's Director Alok Verma of his powers and send him on leave.

"No government or party should play around with institutions. If you do so, who will the people believe in?," said the SP chief as he attacked the  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

"The BJP is the biggest contributor in bringing institutions to an end... The banking system has been destroyed... (But) this is a bigger threat," he added.

Akhilesh alleged that the CBI was used as a tool to intimidate and threaten state governments and local leaders but now, the agency's credibility was at stake.

"A question mark has been raised on every institution of the country and now the verdict has to come from the Supreme Court... The governments have misused the CBI to intimidate people," he said.

The feud between Verma and his deputy, CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, escalated this week leading to registration of an FIR against Asthana and others including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, who is in the CBI custody in an alleged bribery case.

Stepping in, the Supreme Court asked the Central Vigilance Commission to complete within two weeks its inquiry into allegations against Verma and barred interim director M Nageswara Rao from taking any major policy decision.

Meanwhile, referring to the 'Investors' Summit' organised in Uttar Pradesh by the Yogi Adityanath government earlier this year, Akhilesh sought to know about the number of investors that had actually invested in the state as well as the banks that were ready to support them.

"I have come to know that there is a scam in the Chinese lights installed during the summit... But we cannot even ask for a CBI inquiry into it," he quipped.

The SP leader further said that the BJP needed to come out with appropriate answers to questions raised on the Rafale deal.

"The SP has demanded setting up of a joint parliamentary committee for knowing the reality of this deal. If this comes through, it will address a lot of queries of the people," he stressed.

On demonetisation, he said, "It is for the first time after Independence that banks are facing losses as a result of this... Not just investment but prosperity has also been halted."

"Today people are sitting abroad with the money of banks... If only the top 2000 loan takers repay their loans it could bring the prosperity of banks back," he said, adding that the country's youth were facing immense hardships because of the prevailing economic conditions.