Kanimozhi, the daughter of the now-deceased DMK chief M Karunanidhi, was acquitted in the 2G scam by a CBI special court.
Unfazed by the Income-Tax raids at her residence, DMK leader Kanimozhi on Wednesday said the BJP cannot prevent her from winning the Lok Sabha elections. She dubbed the raids as "anti-democratic, deliberately planned and tested".
The I-T raids late on Tuesday night created a political storm in Tamil Nadu, with the Opposition accusing the Modi-led NDA government of misusing its powers to harass its opponents. The I-T raids at Kanimozhi's house did not yield any unaccounted for cash. There was no word from the Election Commission if the raids were conducted with its permission. Sources said that poll observers in the state were not kept in loop, but the state chief election officer (CEO) knew about it.
The I-T department later claimed the raids were conducted based on a "false tip ".
The EC had said "all enforcement actions during election period.. should be non-discriminatory."
Kanimozhi, who was present in the house during the raid, said that some I-T sleuths came around 8: 30 pm. "I asked them for proper document but there was no proper answer from their side. Yet, we cooperated with them completely," she said.
Kanimozhi, the daughter of the now-deceased DMK chief M Karunanidhi, was acquitted in the 2G scam by a CBI special court. "After the raid they gave me a summons When I asked them whom do you want to question, the answer was 'Candidate'. The raids were conducted just because I am from the opposition party," she said.
She is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Thoothukudi against Tamil Nadu BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan. The raids on Kanimozhi happened 48 hours before Tamil Nadu votes on April 18.
Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin, now the party's chief, alleged BJP is using all central probe agencies to harass their opponents out of fear of losing.
After the raids, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came out in support of Kanimozhi. She said the government was targeting DMK as it is against BJP's "divisive politics".
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram asked how tip off on opposition leaders alone is received. Chidambaram tweeted. "The marker of the 2019 Parliamentary elections in Tamil Nadu is the Income Tax department's autocratic and partial steps."
On Tuesday, President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the EC's recommendation of cancelling the Lok Sabha election in Vellore over excessive use of money power, days after a large sum of cash was seized from the warehouse of a DMK candidate.
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