"Corruption In Their Nature": Amit Shah Jabs Congress On Huge Cash Haul

Hitting out at Congress over Income Tax raids at MP Dheeraj Sahu's residence, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that Congress is silent on this issue as corruption is in the "nature" of the grand old party.

Taking a jibe at the INIDIA alliance for remaining "silent" on the issue, he said that there is a fear in the minds of the parties who are part of the Bloc as their "secrets will be revealed".

"I understand Congress is silent as corruption is in their nature but JDU, RJD, DMK, and SP all are sitting silently...Now I understand why a campaign was run against PM Modi that agencies are being misused. It was run because there was a fear in their mind that all the secrets of their corruption would be revealed," Amit Shah told ANI on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta on Sunday said his party had nothing to do with it.

Speaking to ANI on Sunday, the minister said the onus was on the central agency to clarify where the money came from.

Mr Gupta added that Mr Sahu, a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, belongs to a big business family and the Income Tax authorities should conduct a proper investigation to ascertain facts about the source of the money recovered.

"Dheeraj Sahu belongs to a big family, which has business interests. They have been running their businesses for several years. I believe it is the Income Tax department that should come out with a detailed clarification on the source of the money," Mr Gupta told ANI.

"It's not that he had stashed bribe money. An investigation is underway after which everything will be crystal clear. However, is his (Sahu's) personal business and has nothing to do with the party," the state Health minister added.

Moreover, all 14 units of the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party will hold a dharna in the national capital in protest against Congress leader Dhiraj Sahu's multi-crore cash scam tomorrow.

The currency note banding machine was brought to Balangir SBI's main branch to complete the currency counting process.

The Income Tax sleuths conducted raids at the premises of Boudh Distilleries Private Limited on Sunday, as the crackdown by the central agency entered its fifth day.

Baldev Sahu Infra Pvt Ltd company is a group company of Boudh Distilleries, which is being raised. It is allegedly linked to Mr Sahu.

Income Tax sleuths have, so far, recovered more than Rs 200 crore cash from several locations in Odisha and Jharkhand during their raids against Boudh Distilleries Private Limited (BDPL) and entities linked to it.

Earlier, currency counting machines were brought in as the Income Tax Department raided the premises of Boudh Distilleries Private Limited.

The residences of Sahu were also searched. The recovery has given fresh ammunition to the BJP to come out all guns blazing at the Congress on the issue of graft.

Earlier, on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a swipe at the Congress, tagging a news report about the I-T department's recovery of Rs 200 crores in cash from various locations of a business group allegedly linked to Mr Sahu.

"Countrymen should look at these piles of currency notes and then hear the addresses of its (Congress) leaders on honesty. Every penny looted from people will have to be returned. This is Modi's guarantee," PM Modi posted from his official handle.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)