Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday termed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches against a party MP and three MLAs in the state, as a "conspiracy" to divide the party in Karnataka.

Without taking the name of the ruling BJP at the Centre, he claimed that the grand old party was being targeted, aimed at creating difference within the party, to reap benefits out of it, but they wouldn't be successful in their attempts as all Congress legislators are united.

"I don't know the details. I just saw it on TV. Naturally, if the ED has done it, they have been angry with the Congress party since the beginning. If they are targeting the Congress MLAs, there seems to be a conspiracy to divide our party," Kharge said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said if they harass them by bringing up something now that is said to have happened during the election, it is not right.

"The matter should have been looked into during the election, but after one year, one-and-half year, if they are taking it up now, it seems to be an attempt to divide the party legislators here. Let's see how the ED takes the case. I will get information from the CM over the phone and see what needs to be done," he added.

The ED on Wednesday conducted searches against Congress Ballari MP E Tukaram and three MLAs of the party as part of a money laundering investigation into the alleged Valmiki scam-linked money laundering case, official sources said.

They said five premises in Ballari and three in Bengaluru city are being searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These include houses belonging to Tukaram and MLAs Nara Bharath Reddy (Bellary city), J N Ganesh (Kampli) and N T Srinivas (Kudligi).

To a question about an allegation by the ED that the corporation's money was misused, Kharge said, "They may say so. It is a matter left to ED. I will not interfere. Such inquiries happen. During elections, crores of rupees are seized. Where is it? To whom does it belong? So far, things haven't come out. Money was seized from all parties then. Where is that money?" Noting that everyone knows who spends how much during elections, while indicating to the BJP, he said, "They especially target one party (Congress) because, if they trouble this party naturally, there will be differences within and they feel that it will benefit them. But it is impossible. Despite all their harassment, all our MLAs are united and this is nothing new in Karnataka...I don't want to comment more until the inquiry is completed," he added.

The sources said the searches are being conducted in order to gather evidence on the allegation that funds siphoned off from the accounts of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation (KMVSTDC) were used for election expenses -- to distribute cash to voters and Congress workers of the Ballari seat during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

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