The Tamil Nadu Congress chief K. Selvaperunthagai alleged he was confined to his home in Sriperumbudur as “Hindi-speaking” income tax officials carried out a raid on Monday morning.
The raid happened on the day when leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi arrived in the southern state to campaign for this week’s Assembly polls.
“This deliberate action, carried out at a politically sensitive moment, is a clear and calculated attempt to obstruct democratic functioning and weaken the activities of the opposition,” Selvaperunthagai, the Sriperumbudur MLA wrote on X.
No official reason behind the raid has been offered yet.
Addressing his first campaign meeting in Colachel on Monday for the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, where the Congress is allied with the DMK, Rahul Gandhi made no reference to the raids at the state party chief’s residence.
The DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin said: ‘Strong condemnation of the conspiracy to silence Tamil Nadu Congress president Selvaperunthagai’s campaign. Forgetting that India is a democratic nation with just 48 hours left for the election campaign to conclude, the BJP government, united in the fear of defeat, is resorting atrocities to suppress the opposition. The people of Tamil Nadu will give a fitting response to this.”
On Monday, the Enforcement Directorate also raided the sons of Karnataka Congress MLA N.A. Haris, grandson of ex-Union cabinet minister K. Rahman Khan and some others in a crypto currency-linked money laundering case, officials said.
Last Monday, the ED had arrested Vinesh Chandel, a director of the political consultancy firm I-PAC that works closely with the Trinamool Congress in Bengal.
In the midst of the election campaign in the state, a minister Sujit Bose and Debashish Kumar, both sitting MLAs seeking re-election from the Rashbehari and Bidhannagar seat were summoned.
In January this year two ED teams had raided the residence of I-PAC’s top boss Pratik Jain and the firm’s office which led to a confrontation between the central agency and the chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
An unhappy Selvaperunthagai wrote the raids were not enforcement but intimidation.
“It reflects a disturbing pattern of using central agencies as instruments of political pressure to silence dissent, restrict political participation, and create an atmosphere of fear among opposition leaders and workers,” Selvaperunthagai wrote. “Such blatant misuse of authority is an attack on the foundational principles of democracy, where free movement, free speech and fair political engagement must be protected. When institutions meant to uphold the law are used to serve political ends, it undermines public trust and erodes the integrity of our democratic system.”
A two-term MLA, Selvaperunthagai is seeking re-election from the Sriperumbudur seat.
In a statement the Congress said, “This is not routine action. This is a blatant misuse of central agencies by the BJP to intimidate and obstruct Opposition leaders at a crucial moment. Such actions strike at the very heart of democracy. Silencing dissent and targeting political opponents through state machinery is unacceptable.”