J Jayalalithaa today caused a flutter in the Tamil Nadu Assembly by saying that DMK was ‘‘misusing’’ its Delhi clout to instigate an Income Tax crackdown on those close to her. The TN Chief Minister described as ‘‘brazen’’ the raids being conducted on her associates and alleged that IT officials in Chennai were under pressure to raid even her residence. An IT team today raided the Midas Golden Distillery Ltd in Padappai in suburban Chennai, said to be owned by family members of Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’s confidante, and the houses of the CM’s family doctor, Bhaskaran, and her auditor Natarajan.Sources said that an IT team from New Delhi arrived unannounced at the Chennai office this morning with a sealed cover said to contain the names of all those coming under the search-and-seize operations launched by the department recently. This is, in fact, the third major round of raids by IT sleuths in the state. Earlier, houses of leading film stars, musicians and some doctors were searched. In the Assembly, Jayalalithaa lashed out at the UPA, accusing it of ‘‘hatching a deep-rooted conspiracy to malign’’ her government and ‘‘tarnish her popularity and goodwill among the people’’ following the ‘‘much- lauded’’ post-tsunami relief and rehabilitation measures launched by her. She said: ‘‘Even as I speak in the Assembly now, I-T raids are on at the residences and offices of all those who are associated with me including my doctor and my chartered accountant.’’ Her allegations led to a furore. The Opposition, barring the BJP, walked out for being disallowed to respond to her allegations.She said her physician and her CA were being targeted ‘‘just because they happen to be rendering their services to me.’’ This morning onwards, raids were on at her ‘‘family doctor’s’’ residence and tax officers were harassing his wife when he was in his hospital and his daughter had gone to school, she said. ‘‘The doctor is being victimised for giving me medical advice.’’ As for her ‘‘aged auditor, who is one of the most respected auditors in India,’’ he was being targeted as he was looking after her accounts, she said.‘‘His name evokes respect and awe among IT officers throughout the country, and yet his residence is being raided,” she said, without naming any of the two.Jayalalithaa made the allegations when DMK members charged her with being vindictive to their partymen, even going to the extent of arresting a DMK councillor in connection with the relief stampede in which 48 were killed. ‘‘Far from us being vindictive, it is the DMK which is targeting me in a vengeful manner,’ she said, launching into her tirade.Dismissing the allegations, Union MoS for Finance, S S Palanimanickam, presently at Thajavur, told The Indian Express over phone that there was no ‘‘political vendetta’’ as alleged by the AIADMK chief. ‘‘The raids are part of the countrywide raids on tax evaders. The searches on the premises of the ‘Midas Golden Distillery’ is part of the normal course of action initiated by the IT’s investigation and vigilance department,’’ he said. ‘‘There is nothing political in the raids,’’ he added.Declining to mention names, preferring instead to leave it to the IT department ‘‘to issue a formal statement on the matter,’’ the Minister, however, disclosed that raids were also conducted on residences of ‘‘one person said to be the director of the distillery’’ and another, ‘‘who is the mastermind behind it.’’ The Minister dismissed Jayalalithaa’s allegation that IT officials in Chennai were being ‘‘constantly pressured’’ to conduct raids on her house. IT officials were tightlipped on the issue.
