Bangalore:Income Tax officials on Monday raided the residences of prominent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs in Bangalore. The raids were conducted by multiple teams at 60 locations in Bangalore and districts like Hospet and Bellary, in
accordance with instructions from the Centre. The houses of the Personal Assistants
(PA) of mining barons and Ministers Karunakara and Janardhana Reddy were also
raided in Bellary district. The raids started early on Monday morning and were
expected to continue throughout the day. The officials of the Income Tax department
refused to name the persons targeted during the ongoing operation. The State has
been in a political confusion since the 29-month-old BJP Government in the province
was reduced to a minority of 103 members in the 225-member Assembly after 19
deputies, including five Independents, withdrew their support on October 6 this year,
to protest against the reshuffle in the State Cabinet. Chief Minister B. S.
Yeddyurappa won two rounds of trust vote, with 106 legislators in favour while
nearly 100 legislators against, after Speaker K.G. Bopaiah disqualified 16 legislators
under the provision of anti-defection laws.
