New Delhi, Oct 25: Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday said forcing CBI director Alok Verma to go on indefinite leave was "illegal" and alleged that it was done as the government panicked over the possibility of him investigating the Rafale jet deal.

Addressing a press conference here, he claimed that Verma's removal was an "insult" to the Constitution, the chief justice of India and the leader of the opposition.

The move was "illegal", the Congress chief said.

The interim charge of the agency has been given a person who has cases against him so that the prime minister can control him, Gandhi alleged, referring to joint director Nageswara Rao.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday said Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana were asked to go on leave as per the recommendation of the Central Vigilance Commission and it was "absolutely essential" to maintain the institutional integrity of CBI.

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Pune, Nov 16: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis continued to raise the pitch on "vote jihad" by playing a video of Islamic scholar Sajjad Nomani at a poll rally in Pune's Bhosari area on Saturday.

It is being said that a person who votes for the BJP must be ostracised, Fadnavis claimed.

"If these people are trying to do vote jihad, if they are saying they will destabilise the government through vote jihad, then you will also have to do dharmayudh of votes," Fadnavis said.

"If these people dream that they will come to power with the help of votes from one community in the land of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, then you will also have to come to the battlefield," he said in a swipe at the MVA.