JOIN USSmall Scale Industries Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi on Wednesday said he is ready to make any sacrifice for the sake of the Congress in the wake of income tax raids at his residence recently.
In a statement to the media, he said the I-T raids were politically motivated and that his political adversaries have conspired against him. “The raids are an effort to tarnish my image. My adversaries have not been able to digest my political growth. They are trying to remove me from my ministership,” he stated.
He said he will soon submit a report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the raids and stick to whatever decision he takes. Sources in the Congress said Jarkiholi is planning to meet the chief minister on Thursday to brief him about the I-T raids.
Further, Jarkiholi claimed that the statement by the I-T department that it has seized Rs 162 crore unaccounted money and 12.8 kg jewellery is wrong. The department has neither found money nor any jewellery during the raids, he claimed.
Of the properties worth Rs 115 crore found during the raids, around Rs 80 crore belongs to the sugar factory and property worth another Rs 53 crore relates to various other businesses. Accounts of the entire Rs 115 crore have been submitted to the I-T department, he said. None of it is unaccounted for, he claimed.
BSY demands resignation
BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Small Scale Industries Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi after income tax raids unearthed Rs 113 crore undisclosed assets purportedly belonging to him. “Instead of sacking Jarkiholi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has stated he has no information about the I-T raids.
This is a very irresponsible statement and Siddaramaiah should contemplate whether he himself should continue in office,” Yeddyurappa said. He also demanded that the Congress take action against its women’s wing president Lakshmi Hebbalkar who has also been at the receiving end of the I-T raids. He said the statement by BJP national president Amit Shah at a recent party rally in Bengaluru that the Siddaramaiah government was the most corrupt in the country is turning out to be true.