Bengaluru: Gujarat MLAs' "hunch" that they might be raided came "true" on Wednesday morning when they woke up to the sounds of footsteps of Incom Tax sleuths at the plush Eagleton Resort, where they have been lodged for the last four days to stop the BJP from poaching them ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.
A senior leader from the group, on condition of anonymity, said, "We were anticipating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would do something like this, and we were worried for the last four days. Modi and Amit Shah are cut-throat politicians.
“Ever since we have come here, our conversation inadvertently turns to how Modi might go for such raids to intimidate them."
The source further said that All India Congress Committee spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil had even mentioned this during his press meet on Sunday when all the 44 MLAs were paraded before the media as show of strength.
When the raids started, several legislators panicked, but Mr Shivakumar and his brother D.K. Suresh, who is also the Bengaluru Rural MP, cooled their frayed nerves saying that such raids were common. "Suresh's body language was assertive. Most of the MLAs, who were frightened for the last four days, too decided to face the consequences boldly," he said.
Golfers shocked to see IT sleuths
It was a surprise for many golf lovers who came to Eagleton Golf Resort on Wednesday morning to see income tax sleuths swooping down on Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who has been hosting 44 MLAs from Gujarat at the resort.
The raid went on till midnight and IT sleuths had by then raided 60 premises and private properties belonging to Mr Shivakumar and his associates, including his personal astrologer, Dwarkanath.
IT sleuths, accompanied by CRPF security men, started the raid around 7 am. The CRPF men immediately took over the security arrangements and started checking all inbound and outgoing vehicles from the resort. They did not even spare the vehicles belonging to those who had come to play golf in the morning.
