The Income Tax Department Saturday conducted a search at the residence of Samajwadi Party (SP) national secretary Rajeev Rai in Mau.
Rajeev Rai is a close aide of party chief Akhilesh Yadav who is preparing to give a tough fight to the BJP in the crucial Uttar Pradesh polls.
“I have no criminal background or black money. I help people and the government didn’t like it. This is a result of that,” Rai told news agency ANI.
Sources say that the residences of two other aides of Yadav, Jainendra Yadav, and Manoj Yadav were also searched by Income Tax Department this morning.
The former UP chief minister and SP supremo alleged that the tax department seems to have joined the poll battle.
“I have said this time and again that as elections approach.. all this starts happening. Abhi to Income Tax department aaya hai, Enforcement Directorate aayega, CBI aayega (Now the tax department has come… the Enforcement Directorate will come, CBI will come) but the cycle (the Samajwadi Party’s poll symbol) will not stop… its pace will not stop … the BJP will be wiped out of UP. People of the state won’t be fooled. Why was Rajeev Rai not raided a month ago, why now? Because elections are near?” asks Akhilesh Yadav while lashing out at the ruling BJP.
Yadav went on to say: “The BJP is going the same route as the Congress. Take a look at the old history of the Congress, whenever it had to intimidate someone, it would use these central agencies. Today, the BJP is doing the same.”
 national secretary Rajeev Rai in Mau.){kind=link}