The comments came a day after Akhilesh Yadav’s personal aide and other associates were raided by Income Tax officials….reports Asian Lite News
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday defended the Income Tax raids on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s aides, brushing aside accusations of political vendetta.
“I saw yesterday that the Samajwadi Party was getting troubled at Income Tax raids. So, I asked someone, why? The journalist replied ‘chor ki dadhi mein tinka’. Can anyone imagine how someone’s wealth grows 200 times in five years?” he asked.
The Chief Minister further asked, “Would there have been action against criminals and mafias if the Samajwadi Party was in power? Do these people deserve your vote?”
Yogi Adityanath was speaking in Mathura at the launch of one of the six ‘Jan Vishwas Yatra’ rallies planned from six separate locations of the state as part of the BJP’s election campaign.
The comments came a day after Akhilesh Yadav’s personal aide and other associates were raided by Income Tax officials.
Yadav said that he expected visits by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate too.
“I have said this time and again that as elections approach, all this will start happening. Right now, the tax department has come, then the Enforcement Directorate will come, CBI will come but the cycle (the Samajwadi Party’s poll symbol) will not stop. We will continue at the same pace and the BJP will be wiped out of UP. Why was the raid not conducted earlier? Why now? Because elections are near?” he said.
Akhilesh on Sunday also alleged that the phones of his house and office were being tapped. He alleged that the raids were carried out due to political vendetta.
“If they had the information earlier, then why the search agency chose this time, two months prior to polls. It shows that the ED and the CBI will also come to the state to fight the polls,” he further said.
“Earlier, the Congress also used to intimidate people by misusing central agencies like the I-T, CBI and the ED,” he charged.
“Under the BJP government, people have suffered a lot, ease of crime has increased, the government has insulted people. Three agriculture laws were taken back only because the BJP feared defeat in polls. Farmers were run over by jeeps. Probe report proves that,” he claimed.
He said that no action has been taken against the culprits.
“Bulldozers have not run over the culprits. The BJP wears religious glasses as soon as the polls approach. It has betrayed the backward and snatched away the rights of Nishads,” he said.
The speed of “cycle” (SP’s party symbol) will not slow down due to the BJP misusing the central agencies, he claimed, adding that “nobody is safe in this government. How many cases have been filed against Azam Khan? It is not a new way. How many cases were filed against the farmers?”
The I-T raids have been carried out at residences of several close aides of Akhilesh Yadav in Agra, Mainpuri, Lucknow and Mau on Saturday morning.
Raids are being conducted at premises of RCL group promoter Manoj Yadav, SP spokesperson Rajeev Rai and Akhilesh’s close aide Jainendra Yadav.
