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‘Will welcome Income Tax Dept to raid residence,’ challenges Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said that he will welcome an Income Tax (IT) Department team if they raid his residences in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga district and also in the state capital.

In a series of tweets, the former Union Minister said: “I have been told that the IT department has plans to raid my residence in Sivaganga constituency and in Chennai. We will welcome the search party.”

“The IT Department knows that we have nothing to hide. They and other agencies have searched our residences before and found nothing. The intention is to cripple the election campaign.”

I have been told that the I T department has plans to raid my residence in Sivaganga constituency and in Chennai. We will welcome the search party!

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 7, 2019

The I T department knows that we have nothing to hide. They and other agencies have searched our residences before and found nothing. The intention is to cripple the election campaign.

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 7, 2019

The Congress has fielded the former leader’s son Karti Chidambaram from the Sivaganga constituency for the coming Lok Sabha polls.

In his tweets, the senior leader also raised a query about the amount spent on the rallies addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Heard from people attending one of PM’s election rallies: how many crores of rupees are being spent on each rally?

“At every rally there is a pandal that is better than a rich family’s marriage pandal. There are tens of LED screens. What is the source of this huge amount of money?” he asked.

At every rally there is a pandal that is better than a rich family’s marriage pandal. There are tens of LED screens. What is the source of this huge amount of money?

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 8, 2019

Chidambaram’s challenge to the IT department comes after searches were conducted in the Vellore constituency. Sleuths had suspected that DMK treasurer Durai Murugan and his son Kathir Anand had money stashed in their properties to bribe voters.

While the searches didn’t yield results in their residence, over Rs.11 crores were found in properties and buildings linked to DMK functionaries.

Pictures from a cement godown where cash was seized showed that bundles of new currency notes of various denominations were stuffed inside gunny sacks, big shopping bags and cardboard boxes. I-T officials believe that the cash may have been intended for distribution to voters.

The Chief Electoral Officer of TN Satyabrata Sahoo said that the search was conducted based on the information received by the District Electoral Officer of Vellore. Stating that a report will be given to the Election Commission if the seized money is related to the polls, CEO Satyabrata Sahoo said that appropriate action will be taken by the Election Commission based on the report submitted by the Income Tax department.

Source: The News Minute