Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said "forcing" Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to resign after putting the Enforcement Directorate against him is "a blow to federalism".

Soren resigned as chief minister Wednesday evening after over seven hours of questioning by the ED on money laundering charges linked to alleged land fraud. Thereafter, he was arrested by the agency.

In a post in Hindi on X, Congress chief Kharge said, "The one who did not go with (Narendra) Modi ji will go to jail. Putting ED against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and forcing him to resign is a blow to federalism." Intimidating opposition leaders by making the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) draconian is part of the BJP's toolkit, he alleged.

जो मोदी जी के साथ नहीं गया, वो जेल जाएगा।

झारखंड के मुख्यमंत्री, श्री हेमंत सोरेन पर ED लगाकर उनका त्यागपत्र देने को मजबूर करना Federalism की धज्जियाँ उड़ाना है।

PMLA के प्रावधानों को draconian बनाकर विपक्ष के नेताओं को डराना-धमकाना, भाजपा की Tool Kit का हिस्सा है।

षड्यंत्र…

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) January 31, 2024

The BJP's work of destabilising opposition party-led governments one by one as part of a conspiracy is continuing, the Congress chief further alleged.

"What went into the BJP's washing machine is clean as white, what didn't is tainted? If democracy has to be saved from dictatorship then the BJP will have to be defeated. We will not be afraid. We will continue to fight from Parliament to streets," he also said.

ED, CBI, IT आदि अब सरकारी एजेंसियां नहीं रहीं, अब यह भाजपा की ‘विपक्ष मिटाओ सेल' बन चुकी हैं।

खुद भ्रष्टाचार में डूबी भाजपा सत्ता की सनक में लोकतंत्र को तबाह करने का अभियान चला रही है।

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 31, 2024

Targeting the government over the development, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that agencies such as the ED, CBI and the I-T Department "are no longer government agencies, now they have become BJP's 'eliminate opposition cell'."

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi alleged that in its obsession for power, "the BJP, which is steeped in corruption, is running a campaign to destroy democracy."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)