BENGALURU/MYSURU: Keeping up the pressure, the Income Tax Department continued raids across the state on Thursday.In Bengaluru, friends and aides of Congress MLC and Bangalore Central Lok Sabha candidate Rizwan Arshad were raided. His campaign office too was searched. In Mysuru, searches were conducted at the residence of JD(S) leader and minister CS Puttaraju’s son Shivaraj.“I am the JD(S)-Congress candidate in Bangalore Central, but BJP’s alliance partner is the Income Tax Department,” said Rizwan.
Even as the Bengaluru city police are investigating into a complaint against Congress and JD(S) leaders, including Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, for protesting against the Income Tax department, the raids have continued. Leaders of both parties have called it intimidation tactics and harassment.
“Is raiding homes of only opposition party candidates the Income Tax depatment’s job? The fear of losing and insecurity is making the BJP act like this. If they had served the people, this wouldn’t have been necessary,” Rizwan said.
While he acknowledged that his campaign office, along with the residences and offices of his friends were raided, officials of the IT also raided some other people who are not linked to the Congress leader. “For every IT raid that is conducted, we will increase our margin by 20,000- 50,000 votes. All of this is politically motivated and is being instigated by the central government. There is no doubt that Nikhil Kumar will win from Mandya,” said Shivaraj, CS Puttaraju’s son.
His flat in Mysuru’s Sankalp Central Park was searched by officials of the IT and Election Commission. He has been asked to appear for an inquiry on April 25. Taxmen had conducted a series of searches on properties belonging to Puttaraju’s family members in Mysuru and at Chinakurali village in Pandavapura taluk earlier this month. Arshad, who dropped his campaign for the day, held a press conference to claim that the raids were an attempt to derail opposition candidates’ campaign and cause mental harassment.
“They have failed in delivering on their promises to Bengaluru and people are seeing through it. Out of fear, the BJP is misusing ED, IT and CBI. They have become institutions that work on the orders of the BJP,” he said.