Bengaluru, March 28
Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said on Thursday that the income tax raid on JD(S) leaders overseeing the electioneering of his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya and nephew Prajwal Revanna in Hassan was “politically motivated”.
But the Income Tax Department has said that no MP, MLA or minister had been covered in the searches and those were being carried out on the basis of credible information received.
Kumaraswamy said he would stage a demonstration against the raid in Bengaluru along with Congress leaders.
“I am going to stage a demonstration in Bengaluru. Let the whole nation see how the Income Tax Department is being misused. These raids are politically motivated,” a visibly upset Kumaraswamy told reporters in Mysuru.
The pre-dawn raids at 15 to 20 places triggered an angry backlash from Congress as well as JD(S) leaders.
More importantly, the raids were on people who were monitoring the electioneering of the duo belonging to the Gowda family, including state Minor Irrigation Minister CS Puttaraju and his nephew Ashok, who is a district panchayat member in Mysuru.
Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna are testing political waters for the first time under the tutelage of Kumaraswamy and PWD minister HD Revanna.
Asserting that he had predicted the raids on Wednesday night itself, Kumaraswamy said for the first time, I-T officials raided government offices too, such as the PWD office in Hassan and Tehsildar’s office in Kanakapura.
Accusing the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Department (Karnataka-Goa region) BR Balakrishnan of acting as a “political agent”, the Chief Minister said he was eyeing a gubernatorial position post retirement.
The raids did not perturb Revanna. Speaking to reporters in Hassan, he said, “As long as I have the blessings of Sringeri Sharadamba and Shankaracharya, nothing will happen.”
Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department — in a press release in the wake of the Chief Minister’s statements to the press — said that no MP, MLA or minister had been covered in the searches and those were being carried out on the basis of credible information received.— PTI
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2HZ1qbE
via Today’s News Headlines
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