BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah lashed out at BJP National President Amit Shah here on Friday alleging that the BJP leadership used Income-Tax officials to intimidate Gujarat Congress MLAs huddled at Eagleton Resort.
Condemning the raids on the premises of Karnataka Energy minister DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah said, I have no objection against the raid. But the timing is questionable. Why did the I-T officials raid the resort where the Gujarat MLAs are staying? Why did I-T officials threaten the MLAs to return to Gujarat and try to induce them by offering Rs 15 crore.
Siddaramaiah's outburst came after the accused MLAs in a statement said that the I-T officials threatened them at gun point to return to Gujarat and tried to bribe them with Rs15 crore per MLA to change their loyalties.
He reiterated that the raids were conducted on Amit Shah’s orders and is part of the BJP’s conspiracy.
Siddaramaiah also questioned the use of a CRPF contingent for the raids by keeping the state police in the dark. It is a violation of the spirit of federal system of democracy in the country, Siddaramaiah said.