New Delhi: The 13th day of Parliament’s Monsoon session opened on a stormy note after the early morning raids on Karnataka Energy Minister D K Shivakumar’s residence and Eagleton Golf Resort where 44 Gujarat MLAs are staying.
The raids took place at minister's residence in Kanakapura, Sadashivanagar and at rooms of Congress Party MLAs in the resort. The raids started at 7 a.m. this morning and are still underway. Shivakumar was in-charge of hospitality for all Congress Gujarat MLAs staying in Bengaluru.
As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told them not to link the searches with Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.
However, the Minister, who had "gone and parked himself" at the resort, was picked up from there for questioning, he said as Congress members loudly raised the issue in both the Houses. They forced three adjournments of the Rajya Sabha and staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha.
As the Congress members charged the government with using investigating agencies like CBI, ED and IT, Jaitley said "whether it is a use or abuse, it depends of recovery".
Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the elections to the Rajya Sabha should be held without fear in a free and fair manner.
Azad also asked why the raids on the minister was "taking place today and not a month later or before."
Answering to them, Arun Jaitley said the properties of a particular minister of the Karnataka government was searched.
"So, the authorities, because they had to confront him with the recovery, they had gone to get him to his residence so that he could be adequately questioned by the authorities," the Finance Minister said, adding that the minister has been taken to his residence from the resort.
Jaitley also said the resort was not an area where the Karnataka minister can get immunity from the law.
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