As the opposition is raising questions on the timings of raids conducted at the residence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's alleged aide, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, in a counter-attack, asked that how the raids at a residence of an officer will impact elections.
"Sunil Srivastava is a junior engineer. His wife has become the director of 10 companies. What happened in 5 years? He is just a junior engineer... He is an officer, a public servant, not a JMM worker. If raids are being conducted on an officer, what impact will it have on the elections?" Dubey said on Saturday. Earlier today, condemning the raids, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat questioned the timings of the raid as the polling date for the state assembly nears and said that the Election Commission should stop such things. She further alleged that the BJP has become "helpless" which is why they are bringing ED and CBI. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Manoj Pandey questioned the "motive" behind the raids carried out by the Income Tax department with the polling date for the state assembly nears. Speaking to ANI, Pandey said, "At whose behest is this happening? What is the motive behind this? People are not coming to BJP rallies while they are coming to the rallies of Hemant Soren and Kalpana Soren, this has caused frustration among them (BJP)." Earlier in the day, the Income Tax department raided the residence of Sunil Srivastava, allegedly a close aide and personal secretary of Jharkhand CM Soren. Notably, this comes days ahead of the assembly elections in Jharkhand. CM Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), in alliance with Congress, RJD and left parties is facing major competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA alliance in the state. The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 13 and 20, with vote counting scheduled for November 23. (ANI)
|