In an unprecedented action, S K Srivastava, serving Commissioner of Income Tax, New Delhi, on Monday submitted a detailed complaint accusing Karti Chidambaram, Congress Sivaganga candidate and son of Finance Minister P Chidambaram, of concealing information about his wealth in his election affidavit. Karti, however, chose to brush aside the allegations.
Srivastava personally submitted the complaint to Sivaganga Returning Officer and Collector V Rajaraman. It was, however, not known what prompted the senior government official to take on a political biggie in this manner.
Though opposition parties are likely to seize the opportunity and launch a campaign against Karti on the issue, the immediate damage for him is limited as the Returning Officer refused to reject his nomination papers on the basis of the complaint. Instead, Rajaraman just said that he would forward the complaint to the Election Commission (EC) and upload it on the poll body’s website.
In his complaint, Srivastava said Karti had concealed information about wealth acquired by him.