BENGALURU: The early-morning raids by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the houses of Congress MLA and former minister Zameer Ahmed Khan and ex-MLA R Roshan Baig in the I-Monetary Advisory scam resulted in a political war of words between the opposition Congress and ruling BJP. No sooner were the raids conducted, opposition leader Siddaramaiah defended his confidante Khan by claiming it was political vendetta.
“The ED raids on our legislator Zameer Ahmed Khan is nothing but political vendetta. BJP, which is in power at the Centre, is trying to scare opposition parties by misusing its authority and conducting IT and ED raids. It is a deplorable act,” he said.
KPCC president DK Shivakumar went a step further and said the raids were intended to target a “section” of society. When asked whether he was hinting at targeting of the Muslim community, he said: “You can take it however you want. But the raids were intended to send out a message to them.” Shivakumar said harassment of the opposition was happening across the country. “When a notice was issued by ED to our MLA in 2019, he responded to it and gave his statement. Did it take so long for the investigating authorities to raid him and supposedly seize evidence,” questioned Shivakumar.
Congress also asked why there was selective targeting of leaders when complaints have been lodged against others like BY Vijayendra too.
CM dismisses allegation
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai dismissed the selective targeting allegation and said Congress is trying to politicise the issue. “Just because someone files a complaint against a person, it does not warrant raids. Central investigating agencies have their own evidence-gathering measures in place. Congress has become an expert in decoding these raids and alleging bias,” said Bommai.
