I-T officials carry out searches at JD(S)-linked cooperative bank in Karnataka
Hassan (K'taka) (PTI): Income Tax officials on Saturday conducted searches at the Hassan District Cooperative Central Bank, which has JD(S) leaders on its board, sources said.
This comes just days after the schedule for Assembly polls in Karnataka was announced as the Model Code of Conduct came into effect across the state on March 29.
Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's grandson and former state minister H D Revanna's son Suraj Revanna,who is also the JD(S) MLC, party MLA C N Balakrishna and former JD(S) MLC Patel Shivaram are among the directors of the cooperative bank, the HDCC website shows.
Sources said the IT officials are checking the files since Friday and continued their operation on Saturday. They also seized some documents.
There was deployment of police at the bank and no person other than bank authorities were allowed to enter the premises, sources added.
Neither the bank officials nor the IT sleuths were available for comment.
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BJP's main agenda is to keep minorities in fear, alleges Stalin
Chennai (PTI): DMK President M K Stalin has alleged that the BJP's main agenda is to keep the minorities in fear, and everyone is aware of what is happening in the states governed by the saffron party.
Stalin further alleged that Muslims continued to be subjected to attacks.
"Now, a situation has arisen where even Christmas could not be celebrated peacefully. Christians are being targeted. The entire country is a witness to what is happening in Manipur. The BJP's plan of action is that a state of insecurity for minorities should spread like a wildfire across the country," he told PTI in an interview.
That was why it first enacted the CAA, and the next was an amendment to the Waqf law, and now it is "desperate" to amend the FCRA, he alleged, and lashed out at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.
"Palaniswami, who supports all these three amendments and has formed an alliance with the BJP, does not have any concern for the welfare of minorities. However, the DMK is always firm in its commitment to ensure that India must always be a secular state; that people belonging to all religions must be equally respected and that the Constitutional safeguards conferred on minorities must be upheld. If any of these is threatened, the DMK will be the first party to raise its voice against it," he said.
Denying that the BJP made the minorities feel insecure, BJP state vice president M Chakravarthy said the chief minister was making the allegation due to the "fear that the Christian and Dalit votes would go to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by actor-politician Vijay."
He was depicting the BJP as a bogeyman in an attempt to create unnecessary apprehension among the minorities, the BJP leader told PTI.
On FCRA, Chakravarthy asked, "What's wrong with ensuring accountability in the use of funds?"
