I-T raids Stalin’s son-in-law’s home, office days before Tamil Nadu elections

This comes days after searches were conducted last week at DMK candidate EV Velu’s premises in Tiruvannamalai and Chennai. Assembly elections will be held in Tamil Nadu on April 6

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M K Stalin on Friday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying raids would not scare them as Income Tax Department officials began searches at four places in Chennai, including at the house and offices of the former’s son-in-law, Sabareesh.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin. (PTI)

“Let me tell Prime Minister Modi one thing. We are not [ruling] AIADMK [All India Anna Dravida Munnetra] Kazhagam] to be afraid... Remember, I am M K Stalin, I have seen MISA [Maintenance of Internal Security Act],” said Stalin, referring to the law that gave sweeping powers to the government during the state of emergency in the 1970s.

Stalin, who was among those detained under MISA, made the comments while campaigning at Ariyalur ahead of the April 6 polls in the state.

DMK is hoping to wrest power from the AIADMK, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally that has been in power for 10 years, after sweeping the 2019 national polls in the state.

The fresh raids came days after searches were conducted last week at DMK candidate EV Velu’s premises in Tiruvannamalai and Chennai. Velu, a five-time lawmaker, and former minister, is in charge of DMK’s poll preparations and expenditures. The places raided included Arunai Engineering College in Tiruvannamalai, which Velu founded in 1993. A guest house, where Stalin stayed before addressing a rally in Tiruvannamalai, was also searched last week.

Sabareesh is known to keep a low profile and wield power behind the scenes. He is seen to be a key decision-maker within the DMK.

“Searches are still going on at four places. Since it is a sensitive raid, we do not want to disclose details,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

The DMK linked the fresh raids to the April 6 polls as well. “Since the BJP government came to power [at the Centre], their practice has been to use the government institutions during elections to threaten the opposition,” said DMK spokesperson C Ravindran.

DMK’s organising secretary, Durai Murugan, told reporters that the raids were an expression of the ruling alliance’s fear of failure.

DMK filed a complaint with the Election Commission after raids on Velu’s premises. It said this was done to prevent him from campaigning as Velu was contesting against a BJP candidate.

In a tweet, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien questioned what was new in the raids and accused agencies of acting at BJP, Modi, and Union home minister Amit Shah’s command. “Brazen political vendetta in Tamil Nadu against a political opponent you cannot defeat politically. We strongly condemn the blatant political vendetta against @arivalayam [DMK] @mkstalin.”