Congress, Karnataka Govt. should cooperate with IT raids: Ananth Kumar

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affair Ananth Kumar on Thursday said Congress should not oppose Income Tax raids against Karnataka Power Minsiter DK Shivakumar as the action is intended toward combating corruption.

He also said the Karnataka government should cooperate in the mission to uproot the menace of black money.

Kumar told media that "this is an initiative against black money. Mr. Shivkumar, the Karnataka government and the congress party should cooperate in the endeavour. I would request the Congress party to fight against black money and not support it."

IT Department earlier today started raiding the house of DK Shivakumar's house in the Safdarjung area in Delhi.

Early morning today, the IT department also raided the house of the minister's father-in-law in Bengaluru.

The IT department on Wednesday had raided Shivakumar's residence and at a private resort in Bengaluru.

In the wake of incessant raids the Congress created ruckus in both the Houses of Parliament and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central Government was indulging in political witch-hunt just to defeat Congress candidate Ahmed Patel in Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat.

Congress alleged that the BJP was offering its Gujarat MLAs Rs 15 crore each to resign from Congress.

Congress has shifted its 44 MLAs from Gujarat to Bengaluru at Shivkumar's resort after its six MLAs resigned and joined BJP.

The IT department has maintained that its raid at Karnataka Energy Minister's residence and resort has nothing to do with the Gujarat's Congress MLAs.