The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday of initiating Income Tax Department raids on Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot in connection with an alleged case of tax evasion. Income tax authorities carried out searches at 16 locations linked to Gahlot including his Vasant Kunj house.

Searches were also underway at Brisk Infrastructure and Developers Ltd and Corporate International Financial Services Ltd. Tax officials have raided locations in Delhi's residential areas such as Defence Colony and Vasant Kunj as well as offices and residences in Paschim Vihar, Najafgarh, Laxmi Nagar and Palam Vihar area in Gurugram,.

AAP spokesperson Atishi said that the Centre was blatantly using internal agencies, such as the I-T Department, Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and Delhi Police, to intimidate AAP.

"We must be one of the only political parties in India whose funding comes solely through donations, and also one of the few that receives an income tax notice every day," she said.

The AAP spokesperson alleged that the BJP was attacking Gahlot only to hinder the party's political progress. She emphasised that Gahlot was being targeted because he was leading the legal battle over the disqualification of 20 AAP parliamentary secretaries.

Referring to their disqualification as "unconstitutional" and "illegal", she said "The central government has tried, time and time, again to disqualify our parliamentary secretaries and have a bid for re-election. However, Gahlot's persistence in the case has prevented them from doing so."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, too, reacted to the I-T raids on Gahlot, calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to comment on the earlier raids that were conducted on him and Satyendra Jain, Delhi's health and power minister. The CBI had raided Kejriwal's house in Delhi's Civil Lines area in February to collect evidence related to an alleged assault on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash by AAP MLAs. The party had called the action "police raj" and said there was no "intimation" before the searches were conducted.

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The searches are being conducted as part of a tax evasion probe against two firms -- Brisk Infrastructure and Developers Pvt Ltd and Corporate International Financial Services Limited -- that are operated and owned by the family members of Gahlot. Around 16 locations in the capital and adjoining Gurugram are being raided