Bengaluru: Accusing Director General of Income Tax (Karnataka & Goa) Mr Balakrishnan of acting like an agent of the BJP led NDA government, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy claimed that the IT chief was reportedly collecting details of some individuals to conduct IT raids.
Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, the CM said he had received information from a close BJP friend that the IT department was getting ready for a big raid in Karnataka and had already assembled 250-300 sleuths for this purpose. Even taxis had been booked to pick them up from the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA). If the raid happens at this time, he would be forced to tread the path of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (who got the IT sleuths arrested by Kolkata Police for arriving in Kolkata to interrogate a top cop suspected to be involved in the Narada chit fund scam).
Mr Kumaraswamy accused the Union government of trying to harass opposition parties by getting IT raids done on prominent political leaders. They had done this in the past and a similar strategy was now being tried out in Karnataka. “I am not going to keep quiet if any IT raid takes place in the next couple of days. I will be forced to take a cue from Ms Mamata Banerjee in case of such IT raids in Karnataka. The CRPF personnel have arrived at KIA and they will be used during the raids. We are not afraid of such raids as we have not looted money."
Refuting the allegations of Sumalatha Ambareesh, independent candidate in Mandya that her phones had been tapped and intelligence wing cops in plain clothes had been deployed near her house to keep a watch on visitors, Kumaraswamy said he was the last person to resort to such tricks on opponents during elections. Sumalatha was free to get these allegations probed by the Union government since her candidature had the support of BJP. It was not right on her part to make such allegations without evidence. She was trying to gain the sympathy of voters by making such baseless allegations, the CM claimed.
On BJP's demand to provide CRPF protection for Sumalatha, who feared a threat to her life, the CM scoffed at the suggestion remarking, “Why CRPF, let her get BSF protection.” People would not fall prey to her 'drama' of invoking the name of her late husband Ambareesh and would vote for the JD(S) which believes in the development of Mandya, he added.
