"This is a politically motivated raid; the timing also clearly shows that it is politically motivated," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.He said "I'm not against the raid or search on any house, but the time that they have selected and the intention of the central government and the IT department..."On Wednesday, Siddaramaiah in a statement had charged that the IT department action was an attempt to silence the voice against BJP.Asked whether he feels that Shivakumar will come out clean, the Chief Minister today said "let us see, we do not know what has happened, what they have found during the searches, but according to me it is a politically motivated. ""He is a Minister. Taking reserve police to his house and other places is not fair," he said.Without divulging any details, IT department sources said the searches at different places and questioning of the minister in this regard continued today also.Questioning the motive behind IT sleuths going to the resort where MLAs are lodged, Siddaramaiah objected to the use of CRPF without keeping the state police in the loop.Also, hitting back at the BJP for terming raids as fight against corruption, he said, "there are corruption charges against (union minister) Ananth Kumar, only inquiry is still going on. ""There are corruption charges against so many BJP leaders in Karnataka. Is Yeddyurappa (Karnataka party chief) not facing corruption charges?"

Source: Economic Times August 04, 2017 10:32 UTC