The ED on Wednesday conducted searches against AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Kumar Mittal, who recently replaced AAP MP Raghav Chadha as the party’s deputy leader in RS, and educational institutions promoted by him and his family in Punjab and Haryana as part of a probe under FEMA, officials said.

Condemning the raids, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann termed it a “typical Modi-style” political vendetta ahead of the Punjab elections. “BJP has started preparations for Punjab elections. ED raids at AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal’s house and university…typical Modi style…” he said in a post on X.

Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu hit back, saying AAP was a party of “thieves and robbers” and under PM Narendra Modi’s “Swachh Bharat” initiative, “dirt” will be cleaned.

The ED conducted searches at 10 locations in Jalandhar, its nearby areas and Gurgaon. They include Lovely Professional University (LPU) at Phagwara in Kapurthala district, Tetr College of Business and Masters Union College of Business, both in Gurgaon, as well as businesses such as Lovely Autos and Lovely Sweets. Mittal is the founder-chancellor of the LPU.

The ED, officials said, is looking at certain overseas financial transactions of the three educational institutions.

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in a post on X in Hindi, he said, “Modi ji has started preparations for elections in Punjab. But, the people of Punjab will not tolerate this… they would give a befitting reply to the BJP.”