I-T raid an attempt to silence Opposition's voice against BJP: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Earlier in the day, I-T Department officers raided DK Shivakumar's properties, including his houses in Kanakapura and Sadashivanagar and his Eagleton Golf Resort, where the Gujarat Congress MLAs are staying.

Congress cried political vendetta as they accused the BJP of using the state machinery as a tool to silence the Opposition's voice against them.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was quoted by Decaan Herald: "It's not fair on central government part to misuse the IT body for their political game. Congress will not bow down to intimidation."

The CM also accused the central government of violating the rules by using the CRPF during the raids.

Dismissing the claims made by the Congress of using state machinery to target the opposition parties, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley stated in the Rajya Sabha that no Congress MLAs from Gujarat were searched in the Bengaluru resort.

The Congress flew 44 of its lawmakers to Bengaluru ahead of Aug 8 Rajya Sabha polls.

The party has accused BJP of poaching its lawmakers.

Brushing off the claims made by the Congress, Jaitley said the raids had to take place in the resort since the Karnataka minister "parked" himself there.

Congress has also accused the incumbent Gujarat government of trying to lure 22 Congress lawmakers by offering Rs 15 crores and asking them for cross-voting during the polls.

Image: Official Facebook page of Siddaramaiah.