New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday accused the ruling BJP of indulging in political witch-hunt against opposition leaders in order to "divert attention" from its failures.

"Political witch hunt, vendetta and malicious intent to seek revenge has blinded the Narendra Modi-led central government and the Manohar Lal Khattar-led state government in registering a series of criminal cases against Congress leaders across the country," Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala told media here, a day after the CBI filed a charge sheet against former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with a Rs 1,500 crore land deal case. He said the case in which a charge sheet was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a Haryana court was "false and fabricated" as the Manesar land was released on August 24, 2007, while the Khattar government filed the case after eight years against unnamed persons.

"The charge sheet and false criminal cases being filed against the Congress leaders exposes the sinister hallmark of the Modi government's style of functioning," Surjewala said. Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the investigating agencies against opposition leaders, the Congress leader said, "It is being done to divert the attention of the public from the real issues and the failure of the BJP government across the country."

"A similar charge sheet was filed against former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in a court by the Enforcement Directorate few days ago." The Congress leader said the BJP was using the investigative agencies as "captive puppets". "The CBI has truly become the BJP's 'Captive Bureau of Investigation'," he said. Surjewala said the Congress party and its leaders will fight the "conspiracies and the false cases" with full vigor. "We will not be cowed down nor back down against the obvious attempts at seeking revenge and vendetta," Surjewala added.

IANS