In the run-up to the 2018 Assembly elections in Karnataka, a slew of raids by the Income Tax Department set political circles afire, with the then-ruling party, the Congress, claiming the “politically motivated” raids were orchestrated by the Centre.
The political impact of these raids, carried out a few weeks or even days before polling was at best mixed, with most “targets” winning their seats comfortably.
On Shivakumar
As early as August 2017, Congress Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s properties were raided. While the properties of Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi; M.T.B. Nagaraj, MLA; and Congress leader Lakshmi Hebbalkar were raided earlier that year, it was the searches by I-T sleuths on Mr. Shivakumar’s house that kick-started the political slugfest.
Soon after the elections, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also conducted raids, leading to the Congress staging protests in front of the CBI office on accusations of political targeting. Mr. Shivakumar won Kanakapura seat with a vote share of nearly 70%; while Mr. Jarkiholi, Ms. Hebbalkar and Mr. Nagaraj comfortably won their seats.
In poll heat
However, it was in the period of election campaigning that the I-T raids gathered steam. The targets included: Sirsi Congress candidate Bheemanna Naik (who lost against the incumbent BJP MLA by 17,000 votes), Anekal incumbent MLA, B. Shivanna (who won by 8,600 votes), and Anand Singh, MLA, whose resort in Badami where the then-Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was campaigning, was raided. Mr. Singh, who had defected from the BJP to Congress before the elections, was re-elected with a reduced margin of 8,000 votes.
Meanwhile, in Dharwad, the house of a campaign manager for Congress candidate Vinay Kulkarni was raided. Mr. Kulkarni, who was a Minister in the Siddaramaiah government, lost by over 20,000 votes. Similarly, properties of Congress’ Bidar candidate Ashok Kheny, a businessman who had declared assets of ₹190 crore, and who had won from Bidar South as an Independent, was raided. He came third in the elections.
In Sringeri Assembly constituency, the houses of Koppa Congress workers were raided, which soon took on a political hue as workers alleged I-T officers asked them why they were not supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The constituency, which was held by the BJP for 15 years, ended up going to the Congress by a margin of 2,000 votes.
Raids on BJP leaders
In the headlines were raids and searches on BJP leaders too. The hotel where B. Sriramulu, BJP leader, stayed while campaigning at Molakalmuru (he won by over 40,000) was searched by I-T sleuths, while Channagiri candidate Virupakshappa’s house was raided after, he alleged, Congress workers approached the I-T Department. Mr. Virupakshappa defeated the incumbent Congress MLA by over 25,000 votes.
Weeks before the election, properties of JD(S) candidate from Khanapura, Nazir Bhagwan, who had declared ₹191 crore assets, were raided. Incidentally, he got 27,000 votes, a record for the party in the constituency.
