During the I-T raid at ex-OSD Jainendra Yadav’s residence in Lucknow. (Photo: Vishal Srivastav) BJP leader and Cabinet Minister Sidharth Nath Singh on Wednesday demanded an investigation into the assets of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his family, accusing him of tax evasion.
Singh’s statement comes in the wake of the Income Tax Department conducting searches at the houses of an SP leader and three others considered close to Akhilesh Yadav.
“Akhilesh Yadav should accept that his ‘close ones’ are tax evaders and he is also a partner… The SP chief should make it clear as to what relations he has with those raided… The incomes of Akhilesh Yadav and his family should also be investigated. The SP had made preparations to fund the upcoming Assembly elections with this illegal money, but their plans could not be realised,” Singh, who is also the spokesperson of the UP government, said.
Alleging that Akhilesh was defending the “tax evaders” on the pretext of elections and “trying to gain public sympathy in the name of I-T raids”, Singh said: “Loot, theft, and corruption were always in the DNA of SP. This is being confirmed by the Income Tax raids and the recent CAG report. Akhilesh made Noida a den of loot. The CAG report had exposed the rigging to the tune of over Rs 58,000 crores in the allotment of land in Noida during the SP rule.”
Reacting to the allegations levelled by Singh, SP national spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary said, “The BJP is in panic mode because they are losing the elections. They will make such statements because of it. It is part of their agenda to weaken democracy and level baseless allegations against Opposition leaders.”
The Income Tax Department issued a statement Tuesday, saying it had detected undisclosed incomes, bogus loans, and investments in benami properties — all amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees. The statement did not name any person or company in the statement, but sources confirmed the details are related to the latest searches at the premises of aides of opposition leaders in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. The tax department said several entities engaged in civil construction were found to be involved in claiming bogus expenditure running into crores of rupees. It said books of accounts relating to a proprietary firm’s turnover exceeding Rs 150 crore during the last few years were not traceable.
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