Desperate IT Raids
Finally looks like the BJP has kicked off to a strong campaigning phase in the upcoming loksabha elections. IT dept officials have raided a few selected people including politicians of other parties in the state giving the BJP much needed campaign curtain raiser. In the recent past, the same IT dept officials had raided the house of minister D K Shivakumar’s residence. Centre had sent IT teams for the very purpose when DKS had created a safe haven for Cong MLAs from Gujarat.
A few years back, central governments would use IT department in a rather clandestine manner to issue a veiled threat to their opponents. But now things are not covered anymore. Government issues direct threat to opponents using the IT dept.
When Yeddyurappa’s diary was made public in the recently, a BJP sympathizer IT official had hurriedly clarified that the diary was fake. But one cannot even question how he was authorized to clarify the matter. The raid by IT dept around the same time as coalition partners are entering polls has created some controversy. Both JD(S) and Cong have alleged that the raids are connected with upcoming elections, a claim denied by the officials.
IT dept is bound to investigate into the matters of tax evasion. There is no doubt about this. The offenders might be the big shots or the powerful politicians, if their accounts don’t tally, the department has to investigate into the matter. In this regard, anybody interrupting the officers on job is liable to punishment. But even the IT officials during the raid have to maintain their credibility. The main question now is why are the officials raiding the offices of only one party's workers and supporters? Yeddyurappa diary is testimony to the fact that more tax evaders are present in Karnataka.
Reddys of mining mafia are still capable of spending thousands of crores during elections. Hence sparing all BJP workers, why did the teams raid only those who are with the coalition government? And why did the raids happen only at the time of elections? Why were they silent till now? IT officials are responsible to answer these questions.
The raids conducted by them during the assembly election at DKShi’s residence and now on the residences of JD(S) leaders are same in bear the same motive. Hence no matter how much one wants to defend them, the underlying rot is rather too evident. At the same time, another question also arises. The night prior to the raids, CM had said in no uncertain terms that raids on their party supporters were due soon. How did he get the inkling of this? Who leaked the information to him? If he had known beforehand, would the raid even have any impact? Persons concerned would have hidden important documents and details beforehand itself. What impact would the raids even have as an act? But despite this if the raids have happened, it means there is something more than what meets the eye here. This is about spreading negativity among people about the parties. The main purpose of this raid is over with turning into cover page news. At the same time, BJP leaders defending this raid is a mockery of sorts. If IT officers had been working independently even BJP leaders would have been the aggrieved ones along with JD(S) by now. It would have been a credible thing if the IT officers had raided all politicians that are corrupt irrespective of their party background. People would have appreciated this task by IT officers on the whole.
This raid has been some sort of a humiliating one for the central government itself for having timed it around elections. People are wise enough to understand this. They can sense the game centre is playing with the state. This shows Modi’s desperation, and his fear towards a rather bleak future for his party in the upcoming elections.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
