After massive controversy erupted over CRPF-MP Police face-off in Indore during Income Tax raid on Chief Minister Kamal Nath OSD aide’s residence in Bhopal, the Election Commission (EC) has advised all enforcement agencies that actions should be impartial, neutral and non-discriminatory during the election period.
The EC further stated that in case of use of suspected black money to woo voters, the chief electoral officers of State Government should also be kept informed during the model code of conduct period.In a letter to Secretary (Revenue) of Ministry of Finance by Vikram Batra, Director (EE), the Commission has advised that all enforcement actions during the election period even when conducted ruthlessly with a view to curb this blatant electoral malpractices should be absolutely neutral, impartial and non-discriminatory.
“Further in case of suspected use of such illicit money for electoral purposes, the Chief Electoral Officer should be kept suitably informed during the MCC period,” the EC said.
The Income Tax department on Sunday conducted raids on residences and offices of Nath’s nephew and two close aides. Those raided were CM’s nephew Ratul Puri, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Nath, Praveen Kakkar and a close associate RK Miglani. The raids in Madhya Pradesh that began at about 3 am on Sunday are said to be a part of IT department’s nationwide raids on 50 locations.
The scuffle between CRPF and MP police outside the residence of Ashwin Sharma is a reminiscent of the Kolkata Police-CBI February faceoff in West Bengal. Madhya Pradesh police and CRPF on
Sunday came to verbal fisticuffs in Indore. Sharma is an associate of Nath’s OSD Pravin Kakkar.
Madhya Pradesh police officials were stopped from entering Sharma’s residence by CRPF personnel who had cordoned off Sharma’s house as the I-T department conducted the raids inside. While CRPF officials stated that they were not allowed to give entry to anyone into the building during the raids, State police officials said they have received calls for medical assistance from the residents of the building as the CRPF as closed the entire complex.
The letter further stated, “Use of money power with the intention of influencing voter behaviour has over the years emerged as one of the biggest challenges for the conduct of free, fair, ethical and credible elections, in the process undermining the very fabric of the democracy”.
“It is understood that all enforcement agencies working under the administrative control of the department of revenue , Ministry of Finance must be undertaking enforcement action based on variety of inputs and actionable intelligence , as per extant laws,” the letter read.
Earlier, Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N Chandrababu Naidu staged a protest at the Ambedkar Statue on Friday in Vijayawada, to draw the attention of the nation to the Income-Tax raids on party leaders across the State. The series of “selective searches” on senior TDP senior leaders - TTD chairman Putta Sudhakar Yadav, YS Chowdary, CM Ramesh and others, ahead of the elections set the tone for the sit-in by Naidu.
Earlier on March 28, Income Tax officials along with CRPF personnel carried out raids at the residences of Karnataka Minor Irrigation minister C S Puttaraju and his nephew. The raids were also carried out at the residences of PWD minister H D Revanna’s close associates Narayana Reddy, Ashwath Gowda and Raya Gowda in Hassan . On March 14, Income Tax department raided a retired 1979 batch IAS officer, Netram had held key positions in the UP Government when Mayawati was the
Chief Minister from 2007 to 2012. According to reports, Netram was seeking ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls this time.