Fearing defeat in LS polls, BJP misusing central agencies: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday alleged that the BJP is using organisations like the IT Department, ED, and CBI to weaken the Congress Party as the party is scared of losing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He added that the BJP is trying to weaken their party through ‘tax terrorism’ as they believe that by doing this, they can win the election.

“The CM said, the Bharatiya Janata Party, fearful of impending defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, has been misusing autonomous institutions like the IT Department, ED, and CBI to undermine the Congress Party. As part of this tactic, they have unleashed ‘tax terrorism’ on our party. The BJP is under the illusion that by weakening our party, it can win the election,” as per a press statement by the CMO

“The IT department has issued a notice to the Congress Party, alleging unpaid income taxes and demanding a payment of Rs 1,823 crore. Our leaders have revealed that between 2017 and 2018, the BJP obtained contributions from 92 undisclosed donors, and from 1,297 donors lacking address details, amounting to Rs 42 crore. Should the same criteria be applied to the BJP, it would be liable to pay Rs 4,263 crore for tax discrepancies over the last seven years,” the CM said.

Siddaramaiah said that as the Lok Sabha election gets closer, the Income Tax Department is becoming more active and is using ‘tax terrorism’ against opposition parties but is ignoring the BJP’s tax violations.
“Siddaramaiah said, that as the election approaches, the Income Tax Department has become hyperactive, using ‘tax terrorism’ as a tool against opposition parties, including TMC and CPI. However, the same IT Department, which aggressively targets opposition parties, mysteriously turns a blind eye to the BJP’s tax violations. The public is not so ignorant as to not question who is blindfolding the IT Department,” as per the press statement.

Siddaramaiah, however, accused the IT Department of ignoring the Yediyurappa diaries found in Karnataka and the ‘Birla-Sahara’ diary that suggests Narendra Modi received benefits.

“The IT Department, which levies accusations of tax violations against certain Congress leaders citing supposed diary entries, overlooks the Yediyurappa diaries exposed in Karnataka, as well as the ‘Birla-Sahara’ diary that suggests Narendra Modi as a beneficiary. Why have these not caught the department’s attention?” the CM said.

He accused the BJP of wrongly using money through electoral bonds and distracting people from this big scam by falsely accusing opposition parties of evading income tax.

“The CM said, It is public knowledge that the ruling BJP has misappropriated thousands of crores through electoral bonds, misusing institutions like IT, ED, and CBI. However, now, in order to divert the people’s attention from this huge scam, the BJP government is making false accusations of income tax evasion with the malicious intention of portraying the opposition parties as guilty,” as per the press statement.

“The CM said, in the past five years, the BJP government has written off around Rs 10.09 lakh crore of bank loans of fraudsters like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. The public deserves to know how much kickback the BJP received from these individuals,” as per the press statement.

Siddaramaiah also alleged that the BJP is built on people who evade taxes, destabilise banks, plunder mines, trade on the black market, and rob others.

“The true power of the Congress Party lies in its grassroots support, not in financial resources. In contrast, the BJP leans on financial clout, but our strength is the backing of the populace. The BJP’s foundation rests on tax evaders, bank destabilizers, mining plunderers, black market traders, and robbers,” the CM said.

“The BJP has become a washing machine that swallows corrupt money and issues certificates of honesty to the corrupt. Joining the BJP seems to cleanse all sins, allowing continued corruption and embezzlement without any legal consequences or investigations,” the Karnataka Chief Minister said.

“The BJP has ascended to and preserved its position of power through the misappropriated funds of these fraudsters. ‘Operation Kamala’ in Karnataka stands as a prominent example of this,” the CM added.

“Seeing Prime Minister Narendra Modi boast of winning 400 seats while engaging in such illegal activities to crush the opposition reveals that he has clearly seen the writing on the wall. The emperor’s clothes are falling off one by one, exposing the BJP and its so-called leaders to the enlightened voters of the country,” the CM said.