Following Income Tax (I-T) raids on the residences of Congress leaders in Bangalore Rural constituency, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar has accused the I-T Department of working like agents for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and targeting only one constituency.
Shivakumar alleged that the I-T department was being used exclusively against Congress leaders. He claimed that I-T officials were threatening raided Congress leaders to declare that the seized money belonged to Shivakumar and the Congress party.
The raids targeted close aides of Bangalore Rural Congress candidate D.K. Suresh, Shivakumar’s brother. Suresh is the lone Congress MP from Karnataka and is facing off against BJP’s Dr. C.N. Manjunath, who is the son-in-law of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.
Shivakumar condemned the raids, stating that while I-T officials had the authority to conduct searches, they were detaining Congress leaders for extended periods and preventing them from campaigning. He expressed surprise that such tactics were being employed by the I-T Department.
Shivakumar questioned why similar raids were not being conducted against BJP leaders, alleging that they too were distributing money to voters. He accused the I-T officials of acting as agents for the BJP.
Regarding recent comments by Congress leader Sam Pitroda on inheritance tax, Shivakumar clarified that it was a personal opinion and not the official stance of the Congress party.
