Will extend full cooperation to Income-Tax dept: Senthilbalaji
CHENNAI: Addressing an urgently convened press conference at the Secretariat after Income Tax sleuths raided premises across the State, Electricity Minister V Senthilbalaji denied that searches were conducted at places linked to him. He added that all possible cooperation would be extended to the I-T department.
“No I-T raid is happening at my place. We have seen such raids. If there is any anomaly, they will pay tax. We did not evade tax anywhere. If they find out any anomaly in tax payment, we are ready to rectify it. No matter how many days the searches continue, we are ready to furnish all documents sought by them and extend all possible cooperation. If any tax evasion took place, let them initiate action,” he said.
When asked about the I-T officials being stopped from doing their work and the attack
When someone knocks at your door very early in the morning, it takes time to open the doors… They scaled the walls and entered the house even before the gates could be opened
V Senthilbalaji, Minister
on their vehicles, he said, “When someone knocks at your door very early in the morning, it takes time to open the doors. You need to at least wash your face before opening the door. They scaled the walls and entered the house even before the gates could be opened. Some undesirable incidents have happened.”
Seeking to clear the air on the reports surrounding the alleged construction of a lavish house by his family in Karur, Senthilbalaji said the said land was gifted to his brother’s wife by her mother. “My brother’s mother-in-law gifted her family property to her daughter. That is the land on which the house is being constructed. Without knowing the truth, misinformation is being circulated on social media. What is wrong with a mother giving her land to her daughter as a gift,” he asked.
According to him, no property has been registered in his name or that of his kin since 2006. “We will not buy anything more. We have enough,” the minister added.
CHENNAI: DMK organizing secretary RS Bharathi on Friday attributed political motives to the Income Tax raids at places related to state Electricity Minister Senthilbalaji and said that the Minister was being targeted because he demolished AIADMK’s (political) forte.
Talking to reporters at DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam, Bharathi said that the Narendra Modi regime was dreaming that it could exact political revenge against opposition parties by unleashing Enforcement Directorate, CBI and Income Tax Department.
Remarking that the devastating defeat suffered despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hectic campaign in Karnataka has triggered fear and panic among the BJP, Bharathi said that Chief Minister MK Stalin’s successful foreign trip has drawn national attention.
“Unable to digest the reports of the CM fetching investments to the state, they have conducted a raid today in his absence,” added Bharathi.
Recalling BJP state president K Annamalai’s recent statement against Senthilbalaji, the DMK organising secretary said that the BJP and Annamalai are meticulously targeting Senthilbalaji to stifle him because he secured a big victory in the urban local body polls in the same Coimbatore and Karur districts where the AIADMK won big in 2021 Assembly polls.
Is Annamalai I-T or CBI director?
Asked if the heckling of I-T officials was right, he said, “I don’t say what happened there is right. It is wrong. But, we stopped it immediately. We brought the cops and got them dispersed.” On whether he considers it political vendetta, he said, “I do not call it political vendetta. I challenge them. It is not wrong to raid people who engage in irregularities. We don’t bother. If you raid someone after Annamalai makes a statement, I wonder if he is the director of CBI or Income Tax? Who is he? Hence, the doubt.”
Police not informed
Claiming that local police would be intimated during such raids, but, the police were not informed for Friday’s raids,” Bharathi wondered if the government acted when unrest and chaos broke out during raids at former minister Vijaya Baskar’s residence in the previous AIADMK regime.
“When they (I-T) come without informing the local police, how will we know if they are really I-T sleuths? It is normal to suspect if they had come to rob or murder someone. When someone storms into my house at 12 midnight, I would be scared. So, some incidents might have happened in self-defense. As soon as it came to my knowledge, I informed Senthilbalaji I told him that no DMK member must be present there and immediately they dispersed,” he clarified.
Alleging that the opposition was trying to project a law and order breakdown in the state by charging that I-T sleuths were attacked, the DMK organising secretary said, “Let them (I-T) conduct as many raids as they want. We don’t bother. Our CM does not hesitate to act on any person committing a mistake. Let the I-T officials initiate action. Everyone knows what kind of raids they are. The opposition parties have pushed a gear up after the Karnataka polls. To thwart that, they are unleashing such agencies on them.”