Bengaluru: Sumalatha Ambareesh behind I-T raids, says C.S. Puttaraju
Bengaluru: With election date fast approaching, Mandya’s independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh and Minor Irrigation Minister C.S. Puttaraju were involved in an ugly spat once again over income tax raids on Janata Dal (Secular) netas and a few contractors attached to the Public Works Department.
The duo challenged each other to take vows before the samadhi of former minister late M.H. Ambareesh.
While Ms Sumalatha claimed that personal attacks against her have doubled as she is alone after the death of Mr Ambareesh’s death, Mr Puttaraju accused her of using her husband’s death to gain sympathy from Mandya voters.
Reiterating that Ms Sumalatha was behind the IT raids, he said that he had given a hint about such a raid while addressing a public meeting in K.R. Pet taluk two days before the raids. He said that he has got a video clipping of Ms Sumalatha’s speech on the IT raids and it will be made public at the right time. “The BJP, on one hand, has ruined the political career of Ms Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, the widow of Union minister late H.N. Ananth Kumar, and on the other, it has a special love and affection for Ms Sumalatha. She has to take a vow before God and prove that the JDS) distributed money to bring people when JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy filed his nomination last week. We know where and how much money she has distributed during her rallies. As there are no issues, Ms Sumalatha is trying to raise Mr Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s nomination papers, though the deputy commissioner has already issued a clarification. I will still hold the BJP responsible for the IT raids and it is nothing but a political vendetta. B
JP leaders are fools to think that they can spoil the chances of Nikhil in Mandya.”
Claiming that he has a clean record, Mr Puttaraju said the IT officials asked his nephew how much money he has used to fund the JD(S) and searched his entire house. “My family is like an open book and I have not cheated the government of a single paisa. What the IT sleuths recovered was just `35,000 which they returned at the time of leaving,” he claimed. They found nothing in his house and reportedly said sorry after completing the raid, he said.
On JD(S) fielding three women, all with their names starting with Sumalatha, Mr Puttaraju asked how Ms Sumalatha Ambareesh would be affected if women with similar names filed nomination papers. “Even if there are 250 such women what’s her problem,” he asked.
There is no truth in Ms Sumalatha’s claims that the state government is tapping her phones and posted intelligence cops near her house, he said. “Why would the government use police intelligence when young JD(S) workers are enough to do the job? Many youngsters from Mandya work at several hotels in Bengaluru and they can give information when Ms Sumalatha visits any hotel,” he said.
