Gujarat MLAs to return today

The Congress MLAs from Gujarat, who have been camping at a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru for the last eight days, will fly back to their home state on Monday.

As many as 43 Gujarat legislators have been housed at the resort since Saturday last to protect them from being ‘poached’ by the BJP ahead of the August 8 Rajya Sabha polls in that state.

The first batch of 10 MLAs will take the 4 am flight to Anand in Gujarat and the remaining will take the 12.30 pm flight the same day. They are likely to stay at a resort in Anand before moving to Gandhinagar on the eve of the polls, sources said.

AICC spokesperson and Gujarat MLA Shaktisinh Gohil charged the BJP with spreading rumours that the MLAs will use the NOTA (None Of The Above) option in the Rajya Sabha polls to defeat the Congress nominee Ahmed Patel, who is the political secretary of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Gohil asserted that all the Congress MLAs will vote for Patel.

I-T summons to DKS

The Income Tax sleuths have issued summons to Energy Minister D K Shivakumar to appear before them on Monday. The minister, however, has sought time till Wednesday.

 The summons were issued soon after the nearly 72-hour long search operation at 66 places, including the minister’s residence in Bengaluru, ended on Saturday morning.

The I-T issued the summons as per Section 131 of the Income Tax Act that empowers them to conduct inquiries.

‘Full cooperation’
Shivakumar, too, confirmed that he has got the summons. He told reporters on Sunday that he would appear before the I-T officials and extend full cooperation.

He, however, said that he would consult his legal and financial advisors and decide on when to appear before them.

Once the inquiry is completed, the I-T sleuths from Bengaluru will forward all documents along with the inquiry report to the Director General (Investigation) in New Delhi.

According to I-T sources, undeclared assets worth Rs 300 crore had been detected during the raids.