JOIN USFormer US president Abraham Lincoln famously said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” And the BJP proved it the very first time it got a majority in the Lok Sabha.
Ever since the party came back to power at the Centre in 2014, the highlight of its governance model has been the brazen misuse of central agencies to harass opponents. The latest in its series of misuse of power are the Income Tax raids on ruling party leaders in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Karnataka.
It began in 2017 with a raid on the residence and offices of Energy Minister D K Shivakumar. The raid may be legal, but the timing was suspect as it came when the Congress moved 44 legislators from Gujarat to Karnataka to avoid defection before a crucial Rajya Sabha elections. Shivakumar was in charge of guarding and looking after these legislators who were staying at a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The Rajya Sabha poll was a prestige issue for BJP president Amit Shah, who was also one of the contestants.
The central agencies upped the ante as the elections drew closer. A day after the Congress released its first list, party candidate from Anekal and sitting MLA B Shivanna’s residence and office were raided. The same day, I-T sleuths searched residences of four Congress leaders in Koppa and nearby places in Chikkamagaluru district. On Monday, a resort in Badami owned by Congress candidate Anand Singh was raided.
The constituency caught the limelight after it became Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s battleground. At the time of the raid, former Union minister C M Ibrahim and KPCC secretary Parasmal Jain were present at the resort. Jain also claimed that I-T officials seized Rs 5 lakh, which he had with him for personal expenses and that they did not pay heed to the documents he had to prove it. The JD(S)’ Khanapur candidate Nasir Bhagwan, too, had to face a raid.
Perhaps, to ensure that raids are not focused on leaders of certain political parties, I-T sleuths on Tuesday night raided the residence of BJP candidate from Channagiri Madal Virupakshappa. The number of raids against Congress candidates, when compared with those from the BJP, is highly disproportional and looks as though the central agency is following orders to target particular parties. Though I-T raids have been used to settle political scores in the past, the situation prevalent in Karnataka is unheard of. The central government must not use its agencies to trigger fear in the minds of its political rivals.