Ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Income Tax department on Saturday morning carried out raids at the residences of Samajwadi Party leaders.
Officials from the Income Tax department began raids at 7 am at the houses of Samajwadi Party leader and spokesperson Rajeev Rai, who is also an aide of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, in Uttar Pradesh’s Mau and Jainendra Yadav in Lucknow.
Mau: An Income Tax raid is underway at the residence of national secretary of Samajwadi Party (SP), Rajeev Rai.
Raids are underway at a few more locations at the premises of people of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/yJIDwC75qF
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 18, 2021
Besides these, a raid was also carried out at the premises of RCL Group promoter Manoj Yadav in Mainpuri. Manoj Yadav is another close aide of Akhilesh Yadav.
Reacting to the raid, Rajeev Rai was quoted as telling news agency ANI, "I have no criminal background or black money. I help people and the government didn’t like it. This is a result of that."
This is IT dept. I've no criminal background or black money. I help people & Govt didn't like it. This is a result of that. If you do anything, they'll make a video, register an FIR, you'll fight a case unnecessarily. There is no use let procedure complete: Rajeev Rai, SP leader pic.twitter.com/Bn4hcs1ozm
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 18, 2021
The Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, expressed his discontent at the raids, saying it was the government's way of intimidating them.
"The BJP is going the same route as the Congress. Take a look at the old history of the Congress, whenever it had to intimidate someone, it would use these central agencies. Today, the BJP is doing the same," Akhilesh Yadav was quoted as saying by IndiaToday.
भाजपा का हार का डर जितना बढ़ता जायेगा, विपक्षियों पर छापों का दौर भी उतना बढ़ता जाएगा फिर भी सपा का रथ व हर कार्यक्रम बदस्तूर चलता जाएगा।
अब तो जनता पूरी तरह भाजपा के ख़िलाफ़ विपक्ष के साथ खड़ी है, अब क्या बाइस के लिए भाजपा सरकार उप्र की बाइस करोड़ जनता के यहाँ छापे डालेगी। pic.twitter.com/yerCG1A107
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) December 18, 2021
Reports have also stated that Samajwadi Party workers have gathered outside Rai's house in Mau, raising objections about the raids.
Purportedly, the Income Tax raids on Rajeev Rai have been carried out owing to suspicion of tax evasion.
The raids come just hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Shahjahanpur to lay the foundation stone of the Ganga Expressway.
The 594-km long six-lane expressway will be built at a cost of over Rs 36,200 crore, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.
Incidentally, Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are also carrying out a 6-km-long padayatra today in Amethi to protest against the government and rising inflation.
With inputs from agencies
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