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Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)

Mangaluru, Dec 3: Senior Congress leader Janardhan Poojary on Saturday December 3 said that the raid on two state government officials and two contractors by the income tax department was a 'black day' in the history of Karnataka, and if chief minister Siddaramaiah had no links to them as claimed, he should get the officials concerned arrested.

The officials, T N Chikkarayappa and S C Jayachandra, have been suspended by the Karnataka government following the raid. Unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 5.7 crore, 9 kg of gold and 7kg in bullion were recovered from the officials. Altogether, unaccounted income of Rs 152 crore was unearthed during the raids.

Addressing a press meet here, Poojary said, "Two officials of Karnataka were caught with Rs 152 crore worth of cash, gold ornaments and foreign currencies by the I-T officials. This was a black day in the history of Karnataka. It is learnt that these officials used code words to converse about three persons, namely Big Boss No 1, Big Boss No 2 and Big Boss No 3.

"As of now, one minister's name has been revealed in the media, that of PWD minister Mahadevappa. In that case, is the chief minister Big Boss No 1? If not, then the CM should register an FIR and arrest both the officials," Poojary said.

Addressing chief minister Siddaramaiah, Poojary said, "Presently, people are suspicious that you are the Big Boss No 1. It is your duty to inform the state and the nation as to how much black money, gold ornaments and foreign currencies have been recovered from these two officials. If you do not do so by evening, a doubt will arise in the high command's mind too. Then the high command will have to remove you from the post of the CM.

"The Congress party got a bad name after you became the CM. There are media reports that the owner of NICE company has incurred a loss of Rs 1 lac crore to the government. Arrest him immediately, do not be scared that he is an MLA," he told the CM.

Criticising Siddarmaiah further, he said, "Stop sleeping. Now the axe has struck your foot. If you continue to sleep even now, you will have to sleep in the political field too. The people of the state will throw you out of the power in the next elections. There is accusation that you have promoted corrupt officials against whom there are cases registered with the Lokayukta."

Extending strong support to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Poojary said, "Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of the country. He is using the CBI to destabilize the government in West Bengal. Today the CBI has become Bharatiya Janata Bureau of Investigation. As Mamata Banerjee is against the demonetisation by the central government, the centre is trying to destabilize her government by using the CBI and the army. Mamata Banerjee is protesting against this conspiracy. The whole world is watching. It is the right time for the judiciary to implement its power and protect the federal structure. I want to question the Prime Minister, is there no black money in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat? Why are you targetting only West Bengal?

"There is black money in Karnataka also, and the PM is trying to destablize the state government by using this 'Brahmastra'. After Donald Trump came to power in the US, why didn't he take any action against black money. Trump has praised our PM, so the PM should ask Trump about this."

Asked to respond to the state government's decision to hand over the I-T raid case to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Poojary said it was 'unfortunate'.

To a question on whether Mamata Banerjee was not making a political issue over the army deployment, he said, "No, she is right. The centre is trying to desabilize her government. This is a big conspiracy. If you destabilize the governments of other parties, then no party will remain other than BJP. This kind of attitude is against the federal structure. Protecting the federal structure should be the PM's first priority. Has the PM become a joker? What is he trying to do?"

On the hacking of Twitter accounts of Congress party and its vice-president Rahul Gandhi, he said, "The aim of the PM is to root out the Congress party from the entire country, which will not be possible in his entire life. The Congress party was the one which fought for independence, and not the RSS or the BJP. The PM cannot change history."