Congress claims witch hunt by BJP as Energy minister had housed 42 Gujarat MLAs in resort ahead of crucial RS polls to pre-empt poaching; Jaitley denies links while I-T dept says they had planned the move well in advance
BENGALURU: In a move that kicked up a political storm, income-tax personnel swooped down on multiple offices and houses of Congress strongman and state Energy Minister D K Shivakumar and his relatives in Karnataka and New Delhi on Wednesday. Eagleton Resort, where 42 Congress MLAs from Gujarat are housed, was also raided, setting off a political slugfest with Congress terming the move a witch hunt by the Centre ahead of the August 8 Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat. However, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claimed the two were not linked.
There is no official word on the amount seized during the raids. Unconfirmed sources put figures between Rs7.5 crore and Rs 11 crore.A visibly shaken Shivakumar, who was questioned for over five hours at the Eagleton Resort, was later taken to his residence at Sadashivanagar, where I-T officials continued their probe even as his supporters raised slogans. The raids took place at different properties owned by Shivakumar, and his relatives in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Ramanagara, Kanakapura and Mysuru. According to sources, 80 teams comprising five officials each were involved in the elaborate exercise.
The raids have come as a shock to the state government and Gujarat MLAs holed up in the resort, as Shivakumar was tasked with foiling BJP’s alleged designs to poach them. BJP, which has already ensnared six MLAs, hopes to achieve its mission of defeating Ahmed Patel, political secretary of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in the Rajya Sabha polls, by luring 10 more legislators.
Soon after the raids, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the Centre of misusing the I-T department to meet its political ends in Gujarat. “It is an attempt to silence the voice against BJP, we will not bow down to intimidation,” he said. The I-T department, in its release, stated that the timing of the search was decided well in advance. “The events involving certain MLAs of another state being brought to Karnataka were unforeseen,” the release added.
D K Shivakumar
Simultaneous raids took place at the Eagleton resort where Gujarat MLAs were holed up, Shivakumar’s residence and properties in B’luru and New Delhi, ancestral home at Doddahalahalli near Kanakapura, residences of his brother and B’luru Rural MP D K Suresh, father-in-law Thimmaiah and MLC S Ravi.
Gujarat Cong MLAs seek SC intervention
MLAs have sought Supreme Court’s intervention to ensure their security, claiming they felt intimidated by CRPF men in the resort lobby. Spokesperson for the MLAs Shaktisinh Gohil requested the court to send a sitting judge to the resort to witness it first-hand.
DKS was tearing up documents: Jaitley
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in Parliament that 39 premises linked to DKS were raided. He said, “DKS was at the resort tearing up documents. We recovered those as well. The searches should not be linked to the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.”