GUWAHATI, April 8 - Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today accused officials of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Income Tax (IT) Department of playing into the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government. �Both the ECI and the IT Department are making orchestrated and selective searches against the Congress party members but are not seen acting with the same zeal against the BJP leaders,� he alleged.
Addressing a press conference here this morning, Gogoi said that not all but a large section of the officials of both the departments are politically motivated.
�Why are they not conducting searches in the houses of BJP leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma or Sarbananda Sonowal? Everybody knows Himanta distributes money from his house,� Gogoi questioned, divulging that even his wife Dolly Gogoi�s vehicle was searched along with the car of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Anjan Dutta.
�Officials of the Election Commission and the Income Tax departments are indulging in large scale partiality. They are doing it in my constituency, too. This government is anyway good at manipulating things,� Gogoi, who is also the leader of the Assam Congress Legislative Party, said.
Gogoi further claimed that he has information about huge amount of money being pumped in through the �hawala� route, which the Election Commission is not paying heed to.
The Chief Minister also alleged that the Centre has pressurized the business community to fund the party for the Assam polls which is why the Union Finance Minister during his visit met the local businessmen first.
�Never in the history of my political career have I seen a Union Finance Minister giving priority to the local businessmen. If the Finance Minister asks for something they will have to oblige as it is he who decides on the tax structure,� he added.
