IT dept raids premises linked to Delhi Minister Gahlot, seizes Rs 35L cash; political vendetta:AAP

The Income Tax(I-T) Department Wednesday conducted searches on multiple premises linked to AAP leader and Delhi Transport minister Kailash Gahlot in connection with a tax evasion case and seized about Rs 35 lakh in cash, officials said.

The raids sparked condemnation from Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to people for what he called "constantly troubling" his government. The AAP also dubbed the raids as "political vendetta".

Another AAP leader Atishi accused the Modi government of trying to "intimidate" Gahlot for successfully leading the party's legal battle against disqualification of its 20 MLAs in the Delhi High Court and for implementing a scheme for doorstep delivery of essential public services.

The Najafgarh MLA, who is an advocate by profession, holds charge of several departments in the Kejriwal government.

They include Law and Administrative Reforms department that are handling the matter of disqualification of 20 AAP legislators for holding posts of parliamentary secretary, and the doorstep delivery of services scheme, respectively.

The BJP's Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari demanded removal of Gahlot from his post
Atishi said the AAP supports investigation of allegations, but asked why single out only the party's leaders and ministers