ED continued its searches for a second day at Karnataka Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s residence in Belagavi over an illegal investment case. The raids also targeted his associates. CM DK Shivakumar and Minister Priyank Kharge called the action ‘politically motivated’.
‘Politically Motivated’: Opposition Slams Raids
Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), dismissing the ED searches targeting Jarkiholi as “politically motivated”, and accused the BJP of misusing the agencies. Addressing the media on the coordinated central agency action raiding multiple locations, Shivakumar asserted that the state leadership is unfazed by the developments. “The ED raids against him are not something we are unaware of. ED raids have been conducted in the past as well. He is a senior minister and is involved in business and commercial activities. He has also undertaken some social service activities,” the CM said.Further, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge also alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids were politically motivated and claimed that most such raids in recent years had targeted Opposition leaders. “The ED raids are politically motivated. In the last six years, 196 raids have been conducted, but only two cases have resulted in convictions. As many as 97% of the raids have been against Opposition leaders,” Kharge said.“They want to conduct the next election with CBI, IT, and ED, not with the BJP leaders. These are raids sponsored by the Central Government; these agencies are nothing but ‘parrots’ being controlled by their masters,” he added.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)