NE NEWS SERVICE

BENGALURU, OCT 5

Trouble continues for Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar as the CBI raided his house in the early hours of Monday. A large team of CBI officials has been conducting raids at 15 places linked to the Congress stalwart from the state. A separate team has raided his younger brother and Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh’s house, while a team has gone to their village in neighbouring Kanakapura taluk.

According to reports, the CBI conducted the raid after the state government gave a prosecution consent to raid him in connection with an alleged money laundering case.

Shivakumar has already challenged the prosecution assent in the Karnataka High Court and the court has issued a notice to the state government.

Known as a troubleshooter and an ace strategist, Shivakumar is not new to controversies. He took charge as the KPCC president a few months ago, vowing to bring the party back to power in the state.

The current raid has already led to a war of words between the ruling BJP and the Congress. The Congress is alleging that the Centre is using the CBI to fix DKS ahead of the by-election to two assembly seats in the state.

KPCC working president Salim Ahmed said “the BJP knows that they are losing both the seats. A panicked BJP is targeting our party. We have demanded an inquiry against CM BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra. Instead of going after him, the BJP is coming after us”.

The leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah has also condemned the raid, terming it a witch hunt.

Sira and RR Nagara will vote on November 5. Both the seats are in his area of influence and Shivakumar has already sounded the poll bugle, claiming he will not rest until he defeats the BJP in both the constituencies.

The BJP has dismissed the charges claiming it was a procedural matter in connection with money laundering charges.

In 2017, the Income Tax (IT) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided him triggering a huge furore in the state politics. He was subsequently arrested and had to cool his heels at Delhi’s Tihar jail for almost two months.

After that, he has been regularly attending IT and ED investigations.

Last year, he claimed that the ED officials had told him that he would not be touched if he agreed to join the BJP. The ongoing raid is likely to lead to yet another political storm in Karnataka.