
BENGALURU: The I-T raid on the premises of Energy minister D K Shivakumar seems to have succeeded in delivering a political message to the state Congress leaders. Political watchers say the action is more about the political implications it may have than the recovered cash or assets.
Not just Shivakumar, many senior ministers had anticipated raids on their premises following the seizure of a diary from Congress MLC K Govind Raj’s residence. However, it is the timing of the raid that has set tongues wagging.
Though the epicentre of the raid was Shivakumar’s residences and offices, the intended damage is directed more at Gujarat, where BJP is determined to embarrass Congress president Sonia Gandhi by ensuring the defeat of her political secretary Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha election to be held on August 8. Even as BJP succeeded in getting six Gujarat Congres MLAs to resign, the Congress high command moved 42 of its MLAs to Bengaluru to foil BJP’s alleged designs to poach them.
According to state Congress sources, the party leadership had first asked Ministers H C Mahadevappa, K J George and Ramalinga Reddy to take up the responsibility of keeping these MLAs out of the reach of BJP’s backroom boys. The ministers reportedly backed out sensing the trouble they could invite from the Centre.
Shivakumar not only stood up to take the responsibility, he also housed them in a resort in his constituency. That perhaps explains why the IT sleuths knocked at his doors and also at the Eagleton Resort.BJP is ready to pay any price to retain Gujarat, the political backyard of Prime Minister Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah, analysts feel.
The raid is also seen as a move by BJP to push the main players of Karnataka Congress — D K Shivakumar, K J George, H C Mahadevappa, R V Deshpande and M B Patil — on the defensive ahead of the Assembly election in 2018.
While the raid may help BJP defeat Ahmed Patel in Gujarat, push many ministers in Siddaramaiah ministry on the defensive ahead of the assembly election, the man at the centre of action, Shivakumar, could still emerge a hero from the operation if he manages to come out unscathed.