Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Thursday led a protest by the Congress-JDS ruling alliance in front of the Income Tax department here in a furious response to a statewide pre-dawn I-T crackdown on his partymen and others.
Raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and waving party flags, the Congress and JD(S) activists gathered within hours after the IT raids with the help of CRPF personnel at 15 to 20 places including Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan and Shivamogga.
Congress and JD(S) activists who tried to storm the income tax office were arrested and later released as the protest on the ever busy Queens Road resulted in chock-a-block with hundreds of vehicles stuck in the traffic jam.
The ruling alliance was particularly angry as they alleged that the I-T raids were carried out on JD(S) leaders overseeing the elections of Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya and nephew Prajwal Revanna in Hassan.
Taking on the Modi government in the first such protest by the state chief minister against a central department in recent memory, Kumaraswamy lashed out at it for 'misusing' the IT department and other central agencies.
Terming the Centre's behaviour as an 'assault' on the federal system, he alleged that Modi has been misusing the constitutional bodies, which shows his 'dictatorial streak.'
"We are not opposed to raids. We are opposing it because it is restricted to a few political parties in the opposition. They want to threaten them," a visibly angry Kumaraswamy said.
The crackdown came within a day after he claimed last night that the I-T raids had been planned from 5am on Thursday and he would not be deterred and would protest against it like his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee. In an unprecedented showdown with the Modi government, Banerjee had sat on a dharna after the CBI tried to quiz Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with Saradha and Rose Valley Chit Fund scams.
I-T dept defends raids
Strongly defending its action, the IT department said its activities should not be politicised, personalised or trivialised. “The searches were carried out on a wide range of professions and businesses including bureaucrats, MNCs, mining barons, educational institutions, medical colleges, real estate, fisheries, and film industry and including "politically exposed persons," it said.
The department also said in a release that no MP, MLA or minister had been covered in the searches and they were being carried out on the basis of credible information.
The I-T department also said CRPF personnel being used for the searches had not been flown from outside the state and they were requisitioned from the state police following the normal protocol.
Kumaraswamy questioned BJP state chief B S Yeddyurappa as to whether he could win elections without money.
"A BJP leader sends list of people to Amit Shah, who eventually forwards it to Balakrishnan (principal chief commissioner of income tax department (Karnataka-Goa region) to carry out raids. Balakrishnan is acting as an agent of BJP. It seems that he wants a post retirement position such as governor of some state," Kumaraswamy said.
He also said for the first time the I-T officials raided government offices too, such as PWD office in Hassan and Tahsildar office in Kanakapura.
The coalition partners said the raids were on people, who were monitoring the electioneering of Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna from the Gowda clan, targeting state minor irrigation minister C S Puttaraju and his nephew Ashok, who is a district panchayat member in Mysuru.
The raids were also carried out at the residences of PWD minister H D Revanna's close associates Narayana Reddy, Ashwath Gowda and Raya Gowda in Hassan, IT sources said.
Revanna's son and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's grandson Prajjwal is contesting from Hassan Lok Sabha seat.Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna are testing political waters for the first time under the tutelage of Kumaraswamy and PWD minister H D Revanna.
Former chief minister and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah questioned the timing of raids and said they could have been done a month before the election.
Yeddyurappa rubbished the charges, saying the I-T department was doing its duty and it should not be linked with politics. He wondered why the Congress and the JD(S) were giving it a political colour when it was against some bureaucrats, contractors and others and not the MPs, MLAs and ministers.
'BJP tried persuading Kumaraswamy to form govt'
Former Prime Minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda alleged that the BJP had tried to persuade his son H D Kumaraswamy to form a government in Karnataka with their help before the assembly elections.
"The BJP had requested Kumaraswamy to come to Mumbai before the election and promised to give big money for JDS electoral expenses. I was aware of this.
“Knowing fully well about my stand, Kumaraswamy took a hard decision. He rejected the offer by saying he would not go against the wishes of his father to join hands with the BJP," Gowda told PTI here.
The former prime minister alleged that the BJP was taking revenge against JDS leaders because they failed to form the government with the help of Kumaraswamy.
