New Delhi: The Congress and BJP engaged in a war of words over the Income Tax raids at the premises linked to Congress leader Dhiraj Prasad Sahu which led to the seizure of hundreds of crores of rupees. While the BJP targeted the Congress saying this is the “real face” of the party, the grand old party said it has got nothing to do with the business of Sahu and the latter should be asked to explain how the huge amount was recovered from his locations.
Around Rs 290 crore was seized from Odisha and Jharkhand, making it the "highest-ever" black money haul by any agency in a single operation, PTI quoted officials as saying.
"Shop of loot and lies (loot aur jhooth ki dukan) is the real truth of Congress. The Congress means shop of corruption and it is said so because they love only money, they love only loot. And that's why people got to see such a large cache of currency notes in their 'shop of love'," PTI quoted Rajasthan BJP state president CP Joshi as saying.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the party should not be dragged into the case and Sahu should explain how such huge amount of cash was recovered from his locations.
Taking to X, Jairam Ramesh wrote, “Indian National Congress has nothing to do with the business of MP Dheeraj Sahu. Only he can explain, and he should explain, how such huge amounts of cash are being allegedly recovered from his locations by the Income Tax authorities.”
Meanwhile, the BJP also questioned the silence of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik over the raids.
“How can Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik remain silent over such a shameful event taking place in Odisha? The IT officials have seized huge amounts of black money just under the nose of the CM. If a central agency (IT department) could get clue regarding the black money in Odisha, what was the state police, excise department, intelligence and the economic offence wing doing all along,” PTI quoted Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal as saying.
The BJP leader also asked CM Patnaik to order a CBI probe.
Speaking on the matter, Congress leader Jagadish Shettar said the government should act against the corrupt people.
The BJD hit back accusing the Opposition of engaging in “nasty politics” by dragging the regional party into the matter.
“While the BJP national leaders target the Congress MP in Jharkhand over the recovery of black money, the BJP leaders in Odisha unnecessarily drag the BJD. They will not succeed in their evil designs,” a statement issued by the BJD read.
Congress spokesperson Rajani Mohanty said his party demands a judicial probe into the matter or a court-monitored SIT probe to ascertain the truth, PTI reported.