Tax raids on perfume traders in Kannauj were conducted on the day that Akhilesh Yadav was in the city-his wife’s erstwhile parliamentary constituency.
The first target of this raid was Pushpraj Jain, alias Pammi Jain, an MLC of the Samajwadi Party (SP). The second was Malik Miyan, also from Kannauj.
Yadav’s first reaction was a tweet: “The open misuse of central agencies before the UP elections is common”.
After a raid at Jain’s, a Lucknow perfume trader Mohsin Malik’s premises were also raided. In Ambedkarnagar, a gutka trader Haji Naseem was also on the radar. Both are believed to have not paid full GST.
While the raids are still ongoing, in a press conference on Friday afternoon in Kannauj, Yadav said, “For the past many months there has been speculation that Samajwadi Party leaders would be raided”.
“Kannuaj is deeply connected with the Samajwadi Party,” he added.
For centuries, Kannauj has been making ‘ittr’ or oil-based perfume. Some have compared the quality of its product to the ancient fragrances of the Arab world. One of the most unique fragrances they have created is petrichor- the smell of dry earth when the rains hit.
Yadav said that the ittr industry was one in which makers, traders and farmers were involved. He said that during his regime, a perfumery park was to be set up in Kannauj. Yet despite budgetary allowances and allocation of land, Yadav claimed that it was never set up despite the foundation stone being laid in 2016.
In September 2019, the current government had announced that it would go ahead with the park which would have a museum and a skill development centre. “The government has passed the proposal for the park again just before the election,” Yadav said.
He then attacked the ruling BJP more directly saying that it was for it to answer how so much black money had come to be in the possession of people. “The BJP government had said that after demonetisation there will be no more black money. GST will make trade easy.”
He then went on to mock the party for trying to link the raids to his party. “They went to find SP’s Pushpraj Jain, but ended up finding BJP’s Peeyush Jain”. The latter Jain was the first perfume maker to be raided, and erroneous claims were made that he was connected to the SP.
“Out of frustration they have targeted Pushpraj Jain who has made the Samajwadi Party ittr. Many others have been roped in too”. He noted that the BJP was rattled by the large crowds that the party was drawing in its rallies through the state.
Yadav concluded by saying that when elections were on in West Bengal, central agencies had conducted raids in the state too. However, the state’s people have seen through the party and denounced it.
Meanwhile Home Minister Amit Shah who was in Ayodhya on Friday said that the “bad odour of the Samajwadi Party ittr was spreading through the state”.
