Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday said that the income tax (I-T) raids on his associates have been carried out at the behest of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to trouble its political opponent.

“They are doing this as they know they are going to lose [in the election] and these are the only tactics left. I am not worried and nobody can suppress me,” Mr. Nath told reporters on Tuesday.

Mr. Nath and his son Nakul filed their nominations for the Chhindwara Assembly and the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seats, respectively.

While Mr. Nath has represented Chhindwara in Parliament for nine terms, his son is being fielded for the first time.

The I-T Department had raided multiple locations including the premises of Mr. Nath’s officer on special duty, Praveen Kakkar and close associate R.K. Miglani’s house in Delhi over the weekend.

On Saturday evening, an accountant of the Congress party — identified as S.M. Moin — was also raided for allegedly handling ₹20 crore of unaccounted money. A picture taken during the raids, showing the presence of the party’s treasurer and senior leader Ahmed Patel, went viral on social media.

“This shows BJP’s nervousness. We approached the Election Commission as well yesterday. Their work is to conduct raids on political rivals but money alone cannot make you win elections. It will be decided by the people of the country. You give me the agencies for three days and I will show who is the real thief,” said Mr. Patel

“If my chief accountant goes missing for several days and even his own people couldn’t reach him, will I not go to enquire? If there is any issue with my staff, I always go. No one stopped or prevented me from going inside my accountant’s house,” he added.