CM Siddaramaiah Questions PM on Non-Payment of Taxes for Electoral Bond Collections
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over non-payment of tax to Rs 7,600 crore amount collected through electoral bonds by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and asked the Prime Minister “Now who should be put behind the bars?”
Reacting to a statement of the Prime Minister that is his duty to jail the 'corrupt,' Siddaramaiah addressing a gathering at Nanjangud taluk of Mysuru district, said as per law, corrupt have to be put behind bars but asked Prime Minister that “BJP collected Rs 7,600 crore through electoral bonds but not paid tax for it, then, who should be jailed?”
“Is it Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National president J.P. Nadda?” asked the Chief Minister and said “Who should be jailed now since it is also an income (electoral bond collection)?”
“Not a single rupee has been paid by the BJP as tax for the amount it collected through electoral bonds,” said the Chief Minister. Under Modi are the institutions such as CBI, ED and IT and asked “Have any BJP leaders gone to jail?”
Siddaramaiah pointed out the arrests of Chief Ministers-Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi and Hemanth Soren of Jharkhand. Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested with regard to liquor scam while Hemanth Soren has been jailed in a land scam.
“I discussed with legal experts on the arrests of two Chief Ministers and came to know that absolutely there was no evidence against them,” said the Chief Minister yet they have been jailed by misusing officials of Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
He asked the gathering “Is it right (on part of Modi)?” and questioned “Do you vote for such persons?” “No,” said the Chief Minister while appealing to voters that no vote should go for BJP in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
Both, BJP and its alliance partner Janata Dal Secular (JDS) have no ideology in them, accused the Chief Minister and questioned BJP “Why none of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members did not take part in the freedom struggle?”
Adding he said, not a single instance of RSS or BJP have sacrificed their lives for the nation but project themselves as the real patriots’ while Congress leaders have been tagged as ‘non patriots.’ “What moral right do RSS/BJP have to speak on patriotism?”
