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Income Tax department raids Samajwadi Party leaders, Akhilesh slams Centre
The SP alleged that the raids by taxmen at the offices and residences of leaders were politically motivated ahead of assembly elections early next year in India’s most populous state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party regime is misusing central agencies, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged on Saturday after the income-tax department raided premises of leaders of Uttar Pradesh’s main opposition party.
“The BJP too is acting like the Congress did in the past,” Yadav said while on an election tour in Rae Bareli. “Turn back the pages and you will see that whenever the Congress had to intimidate anyone, they would misuse the central agencies.”
The SP alleged that the raids by taxmen at the offices and residences of leaders were politically motivated ahead of assembly elections early next year in India’s most populous state.
The leaders whose premises were searched included Jainendra Yadav, a close aide of Akhilesh Yadav. His Vishal Khand, Gomtinagar residence in the state capital was searched. Others whose premises were searched were party spokesperson Rajiv Rai (Mau district’s Sahadatpura premises) and contractor Manoj Yadav from Punjabi Bagh locality of Mainpuri, who is believed to be close to the SP chief.
Income tax searches are usually carried out on tipoffs about tax evasion.
“I am a leader with no criminal record. Yet these raids are being carried out,” Rai said. “I want to tell my supporters to maintain calm and give no excuse to police to make a case against you on the pretext of disturbing law and order.” The spokesperson blamed income tax officials for “unnecessarily” delaying the entire exercise.
The taxmen were not available for a comment. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has not spoken on the development so far.
“The income tax department has jumped into election fray (from the BJP government’s side),” SP national president Akhilesh Yadav said while on the election trail in Rae Bareli before starting on the second day of his Vijay Yatra.
“We were wondering where the IT department was. This (raids on SP leaders) was awaited. Now IT has come, soon ED (Enforcement Directorate that investigates financial irregularities) and other agencies will come in,” Yadav said sarcastically at a media briefing.
“I had always been saying that as imminent defeat is nagging BJP, such things would begin,” the SP chief alleged. “And they have begun. Anyone who takes on this government will be victimized. Look at Azam Khan (SP parliamentarian who is in jail on charges of grabbing land), look at farmers, what this BJP government did to them.”
“Now the IT department has come into the election fray. This is not CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), IT elections. It’s a people’s election,” he said. “People have made up their mind to oust this government that has caused killat, dikkat and zillat (scarcity, adversity and humiliation) to the people.”
