ED searches premises linked to Ballari Congress MP Tukaram, three MLAs in connection with Valmiki corporation ‘scam'
The premises linked to Mr. Tukaram and Nara Bharath Reddy, the MLA for Ballari, and J.N. Ganesh, MLA for Kampli, were searched by separate ED teams.
Mr. Tukaram and his wife E. Annapurna, MLA for Sandur, were questioned by the ED officials for a few hours. They also searched the residence of Govardhan Reddy, a close aide of Ballari Rural MLA and former Minister B. Nagendra.
The ED also arrived at the residence of MLA, N.T. Srinivas, at Narasimhagiri in Kudligi taluk. However, only the MLA's mother was present at the time, and he was away.
The raids are linked to the alleged diversion of funds from the Valmiki corporation, of which ₹20.19 crore is suspected to have been used during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Ballari.
Filing a charge sheet in the case, with Mr. Nagendra as accused 1, in October, 2024, the ED had claimed ₹89.62 crore was diverted from the corporation into various accounts.
The charge sheet also claimed that of this, ₹20.19 crore was used to support the party candidate in the2024 Lok Sabha elections from Ballari constituency. A substantial part of this money was used to procure alcohol to be distributed during the elections, ED sources said.
The ED had reportedly recovered a note from the mobile phone of Mr. Nagendra's aide Vijay Kumar Gowda allegedly detailing the expenses and distribution of money for Lok Sabha elections, 2024, in Ballari constituency. The ED claimed that Mr. Gowda handled cash for Mr. Nagendra. The three MLAs raided on Wednesday, also figured in the note, the sources claimed.
'Targeting Opposition'
Responding to the ED raids, Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, accused the Union government of misusing investigative agencies to target the Opposition.
'They allege that misappropriated funds were used during the Lok Sabha elections, yet these raids are taking place a year later. Thousands of crores were seized during the elections, but no one knows where that money went. Instead of addressing that, they are harassing the Congress in an attempt to destabilise us and gain political advantage. But that will not happen. We are united and will stand firm,' he said during his interaction with media representatives at his residence in Kalaburagi in the morning
Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala also condemned the raids by questioning whether the success of Karnataka Congress government's guarantee schemes had disturbed the BJP's sleep.
'They [BJP] continue to weaponise agencies to attack opposition leaders out of sheer political hatred… Despite these sinister attempts, the Modi-led central government's misuse of power cannot break the unity of the Congress party or weaken democracy,' he said in a post on X post.
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