Bengaluru: As Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and senior Congress leaders protested the raids on associates of Public Works minister H.D. Revanna before the office of the Income Tax department in Bengaluru on Thursday, the state BJP accused them of trying to intimidate the I-T officials doing their job.
“The Congress and JD(S) must understand that I-T raids don't happen overnight on the whims and fancies of anybody. They are based on credible information and carried out after elaborate and meticulous planning over a period of time,” state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa said.
“The Chief Minister, his cabinet colleagues, and Congress leaders are trying to intimidate the I-T officials by their protest. Their attitude is un- democratic and totally unacceptable,” he added, wondering why the Chief Minister was worried when the raids were not carried out against MLAs, ministers or any top political leader, but only on the homes of contractors, businessmen, and those reputed to act as middlemen.
“The Çongress and JD(S) leaders have proved that they support these suspicious elements by their protest," he contended.
BJP general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, Muralidhar Rao said the allegations of the Congress and JD(S) on the IT raids in the state were baseless. “To call them politically motivated is ridiculous. There have been I-T raids also on the premises of BJP MP, Siddheshwar, party MLA, Dr Ashwathnarayan, and Mr Siddharth, son-in -law of party senior leader, S.M. Krishna. The I-T department functions on its own. No political party has any role in it," he added.
Senior BJP leader, Suresh Kumar hit out at the Chief Minister for his tweets on the I-T department preparing to conduct the raids, saying this amounted to a breach of his oath of secrecy.
