Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 9 (ANI): Defending Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi over the ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigations, Karnataka Minister Santosh Lad on Wednesday dismissed the central agency’s actions as routine political targeting, pointing out that opposition-ruled states face a disproportionate number of such probes.
Talking to reporters, Karnataka Minister Santosh Lad cited long-term operational trends and claimed that over the past twelve years, thousands of ED actions have yielded an extremely low conviction and success rate, leaving the agency accountable to the public.
He said, “It is nothing new to us. For Congress, ED raids are very common to us. As I was telling, in India, more than 26 states BJP is ruling. So there is no corruption in 26 states. They always find where BJP and non-BJP governments are there. So only where Congress is there, where AAP is there, other regional parties are there, they will go and do ED raids there. In the last 12 years, more than 5,000 such ED raids have been happening. The success rate is not even 0.0001%. So they only have to answer this.”
Addressing the media amid coordinated multi-city raids targeting properties linked to the Public Works Department (PWD) minister, Lad asserted that the ruling party is unfazed and solidly united behind Jarkiholi.
“As far as the ED raids are concerned, Jarkiholi sir is definitely going to cooperate with them, we will wait and watch for the entire raid to happen. Let the reports come further. The chargesheet will obviously come. But at this point of time, I personally would like to stand by Mr Satish Jarkiholi as the strongest person. He is an elder brother. The entire Congress party and leaders are with him. Across Karnataka, we are going to stand,” Santosh Lad said.
Earlier, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), dismissing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches targeting Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Satish Jarkiholi as politically motivated, and alleged that the BJP is misusing the agencies.
Addressing the media on the coordinated central agency action raiding multiple locations, Shivakumar asserted that the state leadership is unfazed by the developments.
He said, “The ED raids against him are not something we are unaware of. ED raids have been conducted in the past as well. He is a senior minister and is involved in business and commercial activities. He has also undertaken some social service activities.”
Emphasising that there was nothing to conceal, he added that the minister would legally and transparently respond to any inquiries.
“There is nothing to hide. Let them conduct any investigation, and he will respond to it. Nobody needs to panic. The BJP is politically misusing the agencies.”
Drawing parallels to previous high-profile investigative actions involving state functionaries, Shivakumar pointed to past probes involving former minister B. Nagendra, noting that investigations had run their course and that officials had previously addressed administrative lapses independently.
“An ED raid was also conducted against Nagendra. The BJP has nothing in its head. Siddaramaiah himself has said that the bank officials and officers may have committed mistakes. In the past, investigating agencies have recovered the money. Nagendra voluntarily resigned,” DK Shivakumar said.
The Chief Minister also accused the central ruling party of strategically timing the latest search operations to coincide with a major political milestone.
“Let the BJP hold a press conference. Now, they are targeting Priyank Kharge. They are also targeting him over the KPSC issue. The raid on Satish Jarkiholi today is politically motivated. Tomorrow marks 100 days of the government. They are using this timing to their advantage. They can conduct raids against as many of our people as they want.”
Earlier, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge alleged that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids were politically motivated and claimed that most such raids in recent years had targeted Opposition leaders.
“The ED raids are politically motivated. In the last six years, 196 raids have been conducted, but only two cases have resulted in convictions. As many as 97% of the raids have been against Opposition leaders,” Kharge said.
Kharge further alleged that the BJP did not have faith in its leaders in Karnataka and claimed that central agencies were being used in the run-up to elections.
“They are going to face elections under the leadership of the IT and ED. This is just the beginning. They may conduct raids against CM DK Shivakumar and me as well. Just watch,” he said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at the residences of Karnataka PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi and his daughter, Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Jarkiholi. The Enforcement Directorate is also conducting searches at the residence of the minister’s brother-in-law, Y Manjunath, among 18 places.
According to the agency, this case is not related to the alleged excise case against Manjunath but is a separate alleged money laundering case against Satish Jarkiholi.
The agency began its operation based on certain inputs in close coordination with security forces, covering the premises of suspects linked to the case being investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. (ANI)
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