Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Oct 6: Countering the claims of protesters and statements of Congress leaders, the BJP leaders said that the raids were conducted by autonomous bodies at their own discretion as part of the investigation processes.

BJP Karnataka, in its tweet, said that there cannot be smoke without fire. It said that the Congress workers should have thought properly before taking Shivakumar in a procession on his release from the prison. It accused Karnataka Pradesh Congres Committee of failing to condemn irregularities indulged in by Shivakumar and criticized the leaders for attacking a vehicle of raiding officials.

Medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar tweeted to say that CBI, enforcement directorate and income tax are autonomous bodies and they follow their own sets of procedures and felt that it is unjustified to term the raids as politically motivated. Minister C T Ravi took to twitter to say that those who have committed wrongs are bound to suffer the consequences.

BJP state spokesperson Ganesh Karnik said that the protests are held purely for political purposes and termed them as meaningless and ridiculous. He asked the Congress party leaders to study the functioning of the CBI properly. BJP state general secretary S Ravikumar wondered why the Congress leaders are concerned if they have not done anything wrong.

Union minister Prahlad Joshi said that raids by CBI, IT and ED are always conducted after thorough preparations and they are not surprise raids. It has become a habit to attribute politics to such raids, he commented. Speaking after meeting the family of Rajya Sabha member, Ashok Gasti who died recently, he said that everyone knows about the past of D K Shivakumar before he joined politics.

Laxmi Hebalkar: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson and MLA said that the CBI raid on Shivakumar was backed by political conspiracy. Speaking to media persons she said that such raids are generally conducted during the elections since long. "The main purpose is to create trouble for our leaders. If the agencies are honest, why are there no raids on BJP leaders? Why our leaders become victims of raids during every election? Why was the agency silent since a year? They are afraid that our candidates will win the bypolls. Shivakumar is capable of handling such raids," she commented.