Raids By I-T & GST Heat Up Politics Ahead Of Padampur Bypoll In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: As raids by Income Tax and GST officials raised political heat in bypoll-bound Padampur in Odisha, the ruling BJD and opposition BJP traded charges over the issue, while Congress said innocent people are suffering due to politics of vendetta by the two parties.

Justifying the raids carried out by Income Tax officials at Padampur in Bargarh district on Monday, government chief whip Mohan Charan Majhi said the search operations had no link with the by-election.

Stating that preparations for such search operations are made well in advance, the senior BJP leader said such raids are not carried out all of a sudden and the I-T department must have decided about the time and place of searchs much before.

Describing the I-T department as an independent body of the Central government, Majhi said the raies were carried out in accordance with law and had nothing to do with the election as alleged by some.

Terming the I-T raids as unfortunate, senior BJD leader and legislator Sashi Bhushan Behera claimed that the search operations conducted  ahead of the by-election in Padampur have created a bad precedent.

Without speaking much about the raids carried out by Odisha GST officials shortly after the I-T searches, Behera said the bypoll is being held in Odisha and the state government could have activated its agencies like GST, Vigilance and police and launched raids earlier.

But, the state government never resorted to such moves as it wanted to ensure that the bypoll is held in an impartial, free and fair manner, the BJD leader said.

Dubbing the raids by I-T and subsequent search operations by state GST as nothing but political game plans of BJP and BJD, Congress legislator Tara Prasad Bahinipati said innocent people, businessmen and traders are suffering because of politics of vendetta by these political parties.

Such politics of vengeance is not good for democracy, he said.