A day before the state went to polls, officials from the Income Tax Department raided the residence of Modugula Venugopala Reddy, the YSRCP candidate from Guntur parliamentary constituency. The officials also carried out raids at the residence of Sudhakar Reddy, who is the Guntur candidate’s chief election agent.
A total of three locations were searched. According to reports, Venugopala Reddy’s accountant was also grilled over the documents that were seized in the raids. The YSRCP candidate has alleged that the raids were an attempt to demoralise him and the party cadre a day before polling began, reports TOI.
The raids on the YSRCP’s candidate come hours after TDP MP Galla Jayadev’s accountant was also raided by the Income Tax Department. In a statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) of the Income Tax Department stated that Rs 45.4 lakh cash was seized. None of the premises of the MP candidate Galla Jayadev was searched, the statement added.
In the run-up to the elections, authorities in Andhra Pradesh have seized over Rs 116 crore unaccounted cash across the state since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force, officials said on Wednesday.
The state, where simultaneous elections for Assembly and Lok Sabha are scheduled on Thursday, is ranked second after Tamil Nadu in terms of the cash seized.
"Only two states in the country have seen seizure of over Rs 100 crore cash and Andhra Pradesh is next only to Tamil Nadu," said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gopal Krishna Dwivedi. He said this reflects the good job done by the election machinery in the state.
Besides the cash, the officials also seized 101 kg gold, 330 kg silver, 36,142 litres of liquor and 2,250 kg of ganja.
Other items like sarees, clocks and cricket kits, which were being carried for distribution as an inducement to voters, were also seized. They were valued at Rs 7.28 crore, the officials added.