Probe PM CARES Fund: Uddhav Thackeray hits out at ED
Shiv Sena (UBT) supremo Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday reportedly lashed out at the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for taking action against his close aides in the alleged jumbo COVID-19 facility scam. Slamming the agency, Thackeray said it should also investigate the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund. He made the remarks while addressing party workers in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Probe BMC, other civic bodies: Thackeray
Thackeray reportedly said, "Probe the PM CARES Fund as well. It does not come under the ambit of any investigation. Crores of rupees were collected... Many ventilators (given to Maharashtra)were malfunctioning." Besides the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation—which allegedly carried out the said scam—he dared the central government to probe civic bodies of Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, and Thane, as well as Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat governments.
PM CARES Fund set up in 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic
Notably, the administrations Thackeray mentioned were or are led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. Moreover, the PM CARES Fund was set up in 2020 as a public charitable trust to deal with situations related primarily to the COVID-19 pandemic. PM Narendra Modi is its chairperson, and the members include several union ministers.
ED raided locations of Thackeray's close aides
Thackeray's reaction came after the ED on Wednesday raided 15 locations, including the premises of close aides of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and Thackeray's son, Aaditya Thackeray. The ED is probing alleged irregularities in the allotment of a civic contract to a firm to operate field hospitals in Mumbai and Pune during the COVID-19 pandemic.
