Income-Tax searches against Karnataka Minister D.K. Shivakumar set off a political storm in both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, with the Congress members forcing a complete washout of Rajya Sabha proceedings and staging a walkout in the Lok Sabha.
The protests persisted despite Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s clarification in both the Houses that the raids had nothing to do with Gujarat Congress MLAs staying at a Bengaluru resort or the coming RS polls in the State.
A war of words broke out in the Upper House after Deputy Leader of the Opposition Anand Sharma expressed grave concern over the “attempt to derail and hijack elections to the Council of States.”
Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said the issue, which had already been taken up, could not be raised every day.
Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sought to rebut what he described as a “factually incorrect” statement of the Congress member. He said there were no I-T searches at the resort.
“No MLA has been searched. A particular individual [Karnataka Minister] was to be searched. He had gone and parked himself in that resort. So, the authorities, because they had to confront him with the recoveries, had gone to get him to his residence so that he could be adequately questioned by the authorities outside. As of now, they have taken him to his residence. There is no tax official at the resort,” said Mr. Jaitley.
Mr. Sharma retorted alleging brazen “abuse” of state power and agencies. “Now, the timing and the place are important and significant, because it is this Minister who was coordinating the safety and stay” of the Gujarat MLAs, he said.
The Finance Minister countered, saying that searches were carried out at 39 locations, not at the resort, and whether it was a use or an abuse, would depend on the nature of recoveries. At this, Mr. Sharma questioned the timing.
