Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said CBI teams returned empty-handed after conducting searches at eight locations across the state — including his camp office in Chandigarh — the previous day, and that it reflected his govt’s integrity.Mann denounced the CBI action as an attempt by BJP to “misuse central agencies to intimidate and tarnish the image of an elected chief minister ahead of assembly elections”.On the sidelines of an event in Sangrur, Mann said: “CBI could not find anything during the raids and will have to issue a clean chit. They came with a purpose, but what did they find? Nothing. There was no name in the chats. While CBI has pending cases that are decades old, here they chose to act within 24 hours of the high court order… Are we here to make money from transfers? For us, politics is a passion, not a profession.”“CBI raided the places of our staffers, like Rajbir (Ghuman, OSD to CM) and other officers for 8 hours yesterday but could not find anything. They gave a clean chit while going back. They (CBI) must have told Modi that they did not find anything,” he asserted.The CM questioned the timing of CBI raids. “Whenever elections approach, a familiar pattern emerges in states where BJP faces a political challenge. In Delhi, they arrested Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Satyendar Jain before elections. In Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Delhi, Haryana and other states, whenever elections approach, central agencies suddenly become active,” he remarked.Mann said that when there was no wrongdoing, such raids became nothing more than an attempt to create fear and tarnish reputations, adding that the state govt had already approached Supreme Court in the matter.“We will face central agencies and answer every question. BJP should understand that Punjabis are not going to be frightened by threats or arm-twisting tactics. Punjab will not fall prey to this politics of intimidation,” he said.Mann posted on X: “…The CBI raids are merely the result of political frustration. We will not be intimidated by or bow down to these petty attempts to scare or defame us. We have come here not to make money, but to serve Punjab, and Punjabis never tolerate injustice.”Mann said that the attempt was not confined to targeting him politically, but was also aimed at tarnishing the image of his family and the work being done by the Punjab govt. “This is an attempt to defame me, my family and the work being done by our govt. BJP is making futile and desperate attempts to harass us,” he said.He said that Punjab govt would continue exposing what it considers attempts to misuse central govt institutions for political purposes and remain committed to the welfare and development of the state. “We have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. We will face every agency, every inquiry and every challenge with courage,” he said.Blaming BJP for the death of more than 700 farmers from Punjab during the agitation against the farm laws, he asked, “How will BJP face voters in the state?”Political pressure will not weaken AAP govt’s resolve to continue with its campaign against drugs, ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’, Mann said, adding: “We are fighting against drugs because the future of Punjab’s youth is at stake.”
