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Prathima Nandakumar
Prathima Nandakumar

KARNATAKA

Shivakumar alleges foul play as I-T raids end

dks1 Gujarat MLAs with Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala

The minister thanks Congress leadership for support

Karnataka energy minister D.K. Shivakumar on Saturday walked out of his Sadashivanagar residence,  after the Income Tax search launched last Wednesday finally concluded. 

The  central agency had launched simultaneous raids across multiple locations including the residences and offices of Shivakumar, his close family, in-laws, aides and business partners in Karnataka and Delhi. Barring speculations of cash being recovered from his Delhi residence, there was no official confirmation by the department.  

"I have not violated any law and always abide by the Constitution.  I would never embarrass my party too," said the minister, who greeted the CRPF personnel deployed by the I-T department outside his house.  He also thanked the media for the "cooperation" and apologised for the "inconvenience" caused due to him.

Shivakumar, who was hosting 44 Gujarat Congress MLAs at a resort on city outskirts, allegedly to stall their "poaching" by the BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, was picked up by I-T sleuths from the resort. 

Refusing to comment further on the raids, Shivakumar said, "Only after I get the entire panchnama and the documentation will I speak to you." 

Thanking the Congress party and its leadership for backing him, he said, "All my leaders across the country have stood by me in the crisis...I don't want to embarrass my party and I will not. At no point of time I will let down my leaders and my party."

Soon after the IT sleuths left his premises with loads of documents, Shivakumar rushed to meet the Congress MLAs at the resort, after offering prayers at Kabalamma temple. 

An hour later, the influential Vokkaliga leader who was entrusted with the task to keep Congress MLAs together till August 8 (when Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, seeks re-election to Rajya Sabha) met the Gujarat MLAs outside Raj Bhavan.  

dks2 Gujarat MLAs before the Gandhi statue in Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru

AICC spokesperson and MLA from Gujarat Shaktisinh Gohil said that the Congress was fighting to save democracy. "We met Governor Vajubhai Vala to apprise him about our fight to save democracy.  It is matter of pride for every Gujarati that our MLAs have rejected Rs 15 crore offered by the BJP and stood with the party to save democracy.  It is clear the the Centre has misused the I-T and CRPF.  Why did they not raid Amit Shah's house whose assets have multiplied several folds in the last few years?  Shivakumar ji has a big business and he files IT returns. Yet, he has been targeted. The BJP is trying to break our unity and confidence."

"We have asked our families to install CCTVs and record phone calls as BJP continues to make offers. If a prominent politician like Rahul ji, with SPG cover can be attacked, what about our plight in Gujarat," asked Gohil.  

The MLAs who visited the Vidhana Soudha with Shivakumar,  gathered before the Mahatma Gandhi statue and sang a bhajan before being driven back to the resort in two luxury buses.  According to sources, the MLAs are likely to travel to Delhi on Sunday to meet Sonia Gandhi before returning home,  just in time for the RS polls.  

DKS apologies to CM 

A day after his mother Gowramma blamed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the IT raids, Shivakumar tendered a public apology to the CM stating his mother's statement was not intentional, but a result of her love for her son.

"My mother is not educated and does not know that the I-T department comes under the purview of the Centre. She was stressed out due to the raids and some media exploited her naivete. Her statements are uncalled for. I apologise to the CM and people of the state. I thank all leaders of my party. I am grateful to the CM for standing by me during tough times," said Shivakumar in a press statement.

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Topics : #Karnataka

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