Nervousness marked the camp of D.K. brothers — Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Bengaluru Rural MP D.K. Suresh — as the latter, in a hurriedly convened press briefing in on Saturday morning, accused BJP leaders of “misusing” the Enforcement Directorate (ED). This came amid rumours about the “impending arrest” of Mr. Shivakumar in an attempt to “destabilise the government”.
‘Directing’ action
To support the claim that the BJP was “directing” action against them, Mr. Suresh released a letter, dated January 10, 2017, claiming to be a cover letter to a complaint and set of documents on alleged irregularities and corruption by Mr. Shivakumar and him written by BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa to the Income Tax Department. “The letter makes it clear that the I-T Department is acting against Congress leaders on behalf of the BJP,” he said.
However, Mr. Yeddyurappa denied that he had lodged any complaint with the I-T Department and said the letter released was “fake”. He claimed the letter was the latest in a campaign by Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) leaders to blame the BJP for their troubles.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had recently alleged that Mr. Yeddyurappa’s son was meeting I-T officials, instigating them to target leaders in the coalition in a bid to destabilise his government.
Meets CM
A little after the press conference by his brother, Mr. Shivakumar made an unscheduled visit to M. Chinnaswamy Stadium where Mr. Kumaraswamy was attending an event and the duo went to an undisclosed location, further triggering speculation.
Mr. Shivakumar, speaking to the media later, reiterated the charges made by his brother, but added that ED officials had not contacted him and he was not aware if a first information report (FIR) was indeed registered against him. He claimed knowledge of the BJP’s attempts to “poach MLAs” and destabilise the government.
At a press conference, JD(S) State president A.H. Vishwanath said the party would support not only Mr. Shivakumar but also anybody who was being haunted by the Central agencies, which were acting as “puppets” of the BJP-led NDA government.
Earlier too
A sense of deja vu marked Mr. Suresh’s press conference in the morning as he had similarly briefed the press on May 31, claiming that the CBI would raid the brothers the same day. Hours later, the CBI conducted raids against some associates of the brothers in connection with a demonetisation case.
I-T sleuths had found over ₹5 crore in cash at a residence in New Delhi allegedly linked to Mr. Shivakumar during their searches in August 2017. Though Mr. Shivakumar denied the money was his, I-T sleuths claimed it was linked to him. The case was referred to the ED as it involved money laundering and a preliminary investigation was on. ED officials, however, are tight-lipped on whether they have indeed registered an FIR in the case. Senior ED officials refused to comment on the issue.
BJP calls letter ‘fake’
The BJP, in a tweet, said there were three differences between the letter released by Mr. Suresh and the official letterhead of Mr. Yeddyurappa. They said the letter released by Mr. Suresh had Mr. Yeddyurappa’s Bengaluru address, but had the telephone number of Shivamogga. The tweet said the email ID had the first letter in capitals and Mr. Yeddyurappa’s signature was to the left margin, while it is right aligned in his official letterhead.
