"Why IT raids only against those opposing BJP", asks AP CM

Chennai: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Tuesday slammed the Narendra Modi government over continuing Income Tax raids, alleging the searches were only targeted against those who opposed the BJP.

Addressing a press conference in the DMK’s headquarters here, he sought to know whether I-T raids were conducted in any BJP-ruled states.

“Income Tax raids were conducted only against DMK, Telugu Desam and (Karnataka Chief Minister) H D Kumaraswamy,” he said sharing the dais with DMK candidates for the Lok Sabha elections to be held on Thursday.

“Today there is a raid in Karnataka. Are there any raids in BJP ruled states?” he asked.

Attacking the AIADMK, he charged that “the party is not ruling the state in Tamil Nadu and it is ‘ModiMK’. If you vote for AIADMK, it is a vote to (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi”.

The DMK and other opposition parties have been accusing the AIADMK of being subservient to the BJP after the demise of its supremo Jayalalithaa, a charge denied by the ruling party.

“Today, I came here with a mission. I wanted to appeal to all voters in Tamil Nadu… democracy is in danger and at the same time, Modi has just done so much injustice to the nation. He betrayed the Nation”, he alleged.

Referring to the 100-day long protests led by farmers from Tamil Nadu in New Delhi, he asked whether Modi had met them to address their issue.

Alleging that the electronic voting machines can be manipulated, he said, several developed countries have stopped the use of EVMs.

Naidu had met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora in Delhi on Sunday and raised the issue of alleged largescale malfunctioning of EVMs during the polling in Andhra Pradesh on April 11.