Misuse of investigative agencies highly condemnable
Minister D K Shivakumar’s political journey rests on his money power more than his community backing. Leaders like him are a strong combination of caste and money. And all through their political life, they’d always be in the eye of storm and controversies. This is the whole reason why he was not the first choice of being part of the primary cabinet of CM Kumaraswamy. But DKS was successful in conveying to his chiefs within Congress that he is the most inevitable person within the party and hence he should be accorded good position in the cabinet. With his money power, DKS has managed to turn quite a few things in his favour. And naturally enough, he is also being ‘most sought after’ in his own party and as a favourite catch for IT department. It is also more than evident that he would be under radar for his business interests and political acumen.
Having said that, DKS does not play his politics away from his detractors. But then, if he claims ‘innocence’ in his transactions, it would be more than tough to believe. However, the overall credibility of Income Tax department comes under magnifying glass when raids are repeatedly conducted on DKS’s premises, his men and friends all along. Why are the IT department officials not even touching the Reddy brothers who have minted massive amounts of money? Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa too, have had more than their share of wealth when it comes to charging some with corruption. When truth is this stark, why only Cong leaders are being targeted? Does it mean BJP does not have corrupt politicians?
Is this what the central government wants to convey? BJP is using every possible opportunity to put Cong down through use of all forces and ensure no BJP man is touched in the meantime, no matter how corrupt he/she is.
There is a direct link between the repeated raids on DKS and the Rajya Sabha election that Ahmed Patel won in Gujarat last year. DKS played a prominent role in ensuring no Cong MLA detracts to the other side (BJP) since the election was a very crucial one. This caused a massive loss of face for BJP on its own home turf. More than Ahmed Patel reaching the RS and ensuring Cong did not suffer a sorry defeat in Gujarat; DKS established himself as a leader beyond doubt. He is the man Friday for Congress. From then on, IT raids have been part and parcel of DKS’s political journey. There are accusations that central government tried to convey ‘offers’ to Gujarat MLAs in Karnataka during RS election time. It is more than evident as to why raids have been selectively carried out against DKS since then. Unconfirmed reports said crores worth money was seized from DKS’s house.
Now again, IT raids have begun with a specific agenda of diminishing the image of DKS. Without him, the coalition government was a tough proposition. Without him, the government would have lost a lot of resources and crucial time in forging the coalition. If not for DKS, BJP knows it could have clinched the power and assumed office in the state. Hence DKS continues to be in the eye of storm. As of now, Congress is reeling under money crunch, while BJP has become very strong on that front. DKS is the strongest of politicians, economy wise, within the Congress. Hence, if he can be razed, Cong will find it tough to stand up back again. This is the calculation of BJP leaders. Hence they wanted to buy Cong or JD(S) leaders through horse trading to make a government soon after the results were declared. By then Cong had made the first move.
If Operation Lotus was to repeat, BJP should have spent more than Rs 50 cr on each MLA and would have had to get assurances from at least 10 MLAs to form the government. DKS toppled all these plans with his masterstroke and hence he is an asset to Cong, and a bone of contention to BJP. The credibility of CBI is under radar since no other politicians have been touched across partylines, including those Reddys within BJP who are facing massive corruption charges.
Central government is using every investigative agency to prove something or the other and get MLAs/ministers entangled in legal hurdle for a long time to come. But the victims being victims, they cry victimhood to their otherwise easy life. These raids may even help build a good image for DKS, for he has been the most troubled among the lot. But in the meantime, risking credibility of investigative agencies may prove to be a big risk for the BJP.
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SIR in Gujarat: More than 17 lakh deceased voters found on electoral rolls
Ahmedabad (PTI): The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Gujarat has revealed that more than 17 lakh deceased voters were still included in the existing voter list across the state, a release by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has stated.
According to the release issued on Thursday, the SIR exercise started in Gujarat on November 4 with booth-level officers (BLOs) distributing enumeration forms in their designated areas.
The campaign will continue till December 11.
"In the last one month, enumeration forms have been distributed to more than five crore voters registered in the 2025 electoral roll. In most of the 33 districts, 100 per cent of the distribution has been completed. Work on digitising the returned forms is currently underway. So far, the digitisation work has been completed in 12 out of 182 assembly constituencies," it said.
These include Dhanera and Tharad of Banaskantha district, Limkheda and Dahod (ST) of Dahod district, Bayad of Aravalli district, Dhoraji, Jasdan and Gondal of Rajkot district, Keshod of Junagadh district, Mehmadabad of Kheda district, Khambhat of Anand district and Jalalpore of Navsari district.
Dang district is at the forefront in this work with 94.35 per cent digitisation of the counting forms, said the release.
"During this exercise, it was revealed that 17 lakh deceased voters were still included in the electoral roll across the state. More than 6.14 lakh voters were found absent from their addresses. It has been noticed that more than 30 lakh voters have permanently migrated," the release said.
BLOs found more than 3.25 lakh voters in the "repeated" category, which means that their names figured at more than one place, the release stated.
