The arrest of senior Congress leader and former Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar by the Enforcement Directorate late on Tuesday evening evoked strong reactions from his party colleagues and even saw Chief Minister Yediyurappa come out in support on Tuesday.
Minutes after his arrest, Shivakumar's official handle tweeted, “I congratulate my BJP friends for finally being successful in their mission of arresting me. The IT and ED cases against me are politically motivated and I am a victim of BJP's politics of vengeance and vendetta.”
He added, “I appeal to my party cadre, supporters and well-wishers to not be disheartened as I have done nothing illegal. I have full faith in God & in our country's Judiciary and am very confident that I will emerge victorious both legally and politically against this vendetta politics.”
Leading the charge, the official handle of the Congress alleged vendetta politics and said, “We strongly condemn the high-handed tactics & vendetta politics being deployed against Congress leaders. The arrest of Shri @DKShivakumar is yet another attempt by the govt to distract the public from their failed policies & the sorry state of the economy.”
We strongly condemn the high-handed tactics & vendetta politics being deployed against Congress leaders. The arrest of Shri @DKShivakumar is yet another attempt by the govt to distract the public from their failed policies & the sorry state of the economy.#BJPVendettaPolitics
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 3, 2019
The Karnataka unit of the party said, “Despite full cooperation in investigation @DKShivakumar is arrested by ED. This is political vendetta & High handed tactics against @INCIndia by @BJP4India. Congress stands firmly with DKS & will fight this legally & politically.”
Shivakumar also found support from Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa of the BJP. "There is nothing to be happy about what happened with DK Shivakumar. I pray that he comes through all of this," Yediyurappa said speaking to reporters.
Former CM Siddaramaiah expressed confidence and said DKS will definitely “come out clean” and the whole country will understand the ulterior motives of the BJP.
Opposition leaders are being targeted each & every day using central govt agencies. It is just an attempt to divert the attention from structural failures of @BJP4India govt & also to prevent the voices of dissent. @DKShivakumar is also a victim of their vindictive politics.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 3, 2019
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Former CM and Union Minister Veerappa Moily also tweeted in support of the Congress’ troubleshooter-in-chief.
In an elaborate statement, Moily said, “The present trend of tax terrorism and abuse of agencies like ED & CBI for political witch-hunt is quite alarming. The suicide of Siddartha CMD of Cafe Coffee Day and his death note reflects tax terrorism. In this connection statements of eminent and respectable industrialists like Kiran Muzumdar Shaw saying industrialists are treated as criminals is also quite revealing. While a prominent industrialist in the IT & educational sector Mohandas Pai, former director of Infosys also quoted about harassment of tax authorities confounded the present tortuous situation in the country.”
He added, “DK.Shivakumar is not only a politician but also a former minister and an investor. The continuous interrogation and harassment is writ-large. While investigation can be initiated but should not appear that such intent or investigation should be politically biased and also reflect persecution instead of prosecution.”
Support also came from his former rival and recent ally HD Kumaraswamy, the former CM.
He said, “It has been confirmed that the central government is using various agencies illegally to kill opposition leaders who do not care for their interests. @DKShivakumar Arrested on the pretext of not cooperating with the trial is a democratic carnage.”
ತಮ್ಮ ಹಿತಾಸಕ್ತಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಬಗ್ಗದ ಪ್ರತಿಪಕ್ಷದ ನಾಯಕರನ್ನು ಮಣಿಸಲು ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರ್ಕಾರ ವಿವಿಧ ಏಜೆನ್ಸಿಗಳನ್ನು ಅಕ್ರಮವಾಗಿ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿರುವುದು ದೃಢಪಟ್ಟಿದೆ.ಹಬ್ಬದ ಆಚರಣೆಗೂ ಅವಕಾಶ ನೀಡದೆ 4ದಿನಗಳ ಕಾಲ ನಿರಂತರ ವಿಚಾರಣೆಗೆ ಒಳಪಟ್ಟ @DKShivakumar ರನ್ನು ವಿಚಾರಣೆಗೆ ಸಹಕರಿಸುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ನೆಪದ ಮೇಲೆ ಬಂಧಿಸಿರುವುದು ಪ್ರಜಾಪ್ರಭುತ್ವದ ಕಗ್ಗೊಲೆ.
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) September 3, 2019