After PM Modi’s ‘Bhrasht’ Jibe, Kamal Nath Reminds Him of Vyapam Scam, Says I-T Raids Will be Futile

Indore: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbed Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister ‘Bhrasht Nath’ in an exclusive interview with News18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, the CM’s office on Tuesday responded to it by terming the BJP government at the Centre as “corrupt in itself”.

Accusing the Prime Minister of “overlooking” the scams that during the then Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, the CMO said, “Modi is scared and has forgotten the Vyapam Scam, e-tendering scam and several other such scams. Nothing will be found in the raids as it is a political attack.”

Further, CM Kamal Nath’s office said that the accused Ashwini Sharma has already “admitted his links with the BJP”. “Modi government is self-corrupt and no one can accuse Kamal Nath who is a parliamentarian for the past 10 years. Even Kailash Vijaywargiya was aware of these raids as they sponsored by the BJP,” the CMO added.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told CNN-News18 that the BJP government has cracked the whip on such scams, referring to recent Income Tax raids on the aides of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath.

“Bhrasht Nath could say anything, but it doesn’t matter. Action needs to be taken on scams and corruption. Scams were put in cold storage and we thought they should be probed. If the scams are surfacing, the people behind them should also come forward,” the Prime Minister said.

Soon after filing his nomination from Chhindwara, CM Nath said, “The BJP government is trying to pressurise us through Income Tax raids. It’s a political conspiracy against me and my opponents would get nothing out of this.”

Following the I-T raids conducted on his establishments that started in the wee hours of Sunday and continued on Monday, Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s former OSD Praveen Kakkar claimed that the sleuths found nothing from him.

While the CM’s Officer on Special Duty denied any kind of misbehaviour from the investigators’ part, he said that they found nothing objectionable in the past 48 hours. “The I-T officers spent close to 48 hours at my residence, but found nothing objectionable which they could seize during the action,” said Kakkar.

However, he alleged that the officers had barged his doors open when the raid began around 3.30am on Sunday. “I can even show you the doors,” Kakkar added.

Kakkar’s various establishments in Indore and Bhopal were raided by the I-T officers as part of the nationwide operation carried out by 300 officers at 50 locations across the country.

“No cash or jewellery was recovered from my residence and nothing objectionable was found from the bank lockers,” he said, adding that the raid was a pure political action against him.

He also said that the family was given six hours of rest in between the action.

On being asked about CBDT press release which linked the raids to Hawala payments and political fundings, Kakkar said he was never associated with either of them.

At a presser, the Delhi Directorate of Income Tax on Monday spoke about a “widespread” and “organised” racket of unaccounted cash of about Rs 281 crore in Madhya Pradesh. The team raided several properties that belonged to businessmen, politicians and people related to other public services.