The Congress party has launched an all out attack against the ruling BJP over the income tax raids on Karnataka energy minister DK Shivakumar, but DK's mother Gowramma thinks chief minister Siddaramaiah could be the man behind the raids.
"Siddaramaiah has been sharpening the knife against my son. He needed my son's support to grow, but today he hates him," Gowramma accuses the chief minister while speaking to the reporters.
"He uses my sons to get his work done and then betrays. Siddaramaiah takes credit for 'Anna Bhagya' or 'Kshera Bhagya' programs, but does the money comes from his father's house? Farmers like us are contributing to such social welfare programs," she slams.
She thinks Shivakumar has many enemies within and outside the party and people are jealous of his rise in politics. On asking whether Siddaramaiah has a role in the I-T raids, she said, "The chief minister may be behind this. Else he would have stopped or asked the authorities on the raids."
Gowramma further adds that her sons are contributing to the progress of the country and have not looted the money from others. The raids are politically-motivated, she added.
Her comments have shocked the Congress party's leadership who were indeed attacking the Narendra Modi government for misusing government agencies for political gains.
Meanwhile, Gowramma's second son and MP, DK Suresh, said his mother made those comments under media pressure. The party and chief minister are standing with us on the matter, he added.
The income-tax department has carried out raids at 64 locations on properties linked to DK Shivakumar in Karnataka and Delhi in the last three days. The I-T department also conducted a search in Eagleton resort in Bidadi near Bengaluru, owned by his brother, where 44 Gujarat MLAs are housed.
Initially, it was believed that the BJP was on a witch-hunt just to win one Raj Sabha seat from Gujarat. Later, the bigger picture emerged where it was speculated that the Centre had targeted DK Shivakumar because he is the head of Congress' campaign committee for the elections in Karnataka next year.
Beyond all the reasons, the rumour suggesting 'Siddaramaiah's hand behind the raids to clip DK Shivakumar's wings' is buzzing in the political circles. Shivakumar is one of the Congress strongmen and moneybags in Karnataka politics.
