Tax raids on minister have nothing to do with Gujarat RS polls: Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley is now speaking in the Lok Sabha on the income tax raids on Karnataka Energy minister D K Shivakumar and his aides today.  

Jaitley reiterated what he said in the Upper House that no raids were conducted at the resort on anyone else staying there. "There were no raids on the Gujarat MLAs staying at the resort. Yes, there have been income tax raids on a Karnataka minister and his aides at 39 places across the country. The minister was at the resort when the raids were taking place across 39 locations in India. His room was searched and even torn bits of paper were seized by the department.

"Do not connect the raids with any polls in Gujarat, it has entirely to do with income tax fraud. None of the other MLAs or anyone else staying at the resort were raided," Jaitley told the Lok Sabha.

Shivkumar was taken away from the resort and taken to his residence in Bengaluru this morning by income tax officials.

To keep you abreast with the big story today, the income tax Department conducted searches at multiple locations in Karnataka and Delhi related to Karnataka Energy minister D K Shivakumar, who is hosting 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat at a resort near Bengaluru, in connection with a tax evasion probe case.

I-T officials said Rs 5 crore cash was recovered from the Delhi residence of Shivakumar.

Earlier, officials privy to the early morning raids said a team of I-T sleuths has reached the Eagleton resort near Bengaluru to question the minister, who was staying at the resort for the night.

"The resort is not being raided," the officials said.

A total of 39 premises of the minister and his family are being raised by a team of about 120 Income Tax Department officials with the aid of central paramilitary forces, they said.

The department is also investigating charges of alleged role of money power and huge transfer of illegal funds for these polls.

Shivakumar, is hosting his party's MLAs from Gujarat who have been brought to the Bengaluru resort till the day of the Rajya Sabha elections on August 8.

Six of the 57 Congress MLAs in Gujarat, from where senior party leader Ahmed Patel is contesting for the Rajya Sabha, resigned from the party in the last few days with three joining the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday last ahead of the Rajya Sabha poll.

The party has apprehensions over Patel's election prospects, if more MLAs defect.

The BJP has fielded three members including party president Amit Shah, union minister Smriti Irani and a rebel Congress MLA for the election.

Patel, Congress president Sonia Gandhi's political adviser, is seeking re-election.