PM denies govt role in CBI raid on Stalin home

Agencies/New Delhi/ ChennaiPrime Minister Manmohan Singh insisted yesterday his government had nothing to do with a raid on the home of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M K Stalin, a day after the party pulled out of the ruling coalition. Stalin, who is also the son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, reacted furiously after investigators searched his home as part of a tax probe, calling it a political “vendetta.” Stalin described the officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the “dead hand” of the main ruling Congress Party and said they had targeted his home in Chennai for no good reason. “There should be some reason behind (the raid)... it’s a political vendetta,” he told reporters.However, his father said: “Generally actions of political vendetta surround DMK party, and this (the CBI raid) may or may not be one of that.”He added that he subscribed to the views of several leaders who have voiced their opposition to the raids. Actions of political vendetta, he said, were not only carried out by the central government but also in Tamil Nadu. But after a series of senior ministers condemned the timing, Singh told reporters he himself was upset by news of the raid. “We are all upset at these events. The government had no role in this, that I am sure of,” he said. “We will find out the details. This should not have...(happened). The timing of the raid is most unfortunate.” Senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said he “strongly disapproved” of the raid. “It is bound to be misunderstood,” he said. The CBI raid was carried out in connection with the import of a Hummer car used by Stalin’s son Udyanidhi, an official said.The agency said it had registered cases under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with a complaint that 33 vehicles had been imported in Tamil Nadu.“Of these, certain vehicles are believed to have been imported and subsequently sold in violation of import provisions causing loss of up to Rs48 crore (Rs480mn) approximately to the exchequer.”The DMK’s five ministers handed in their resignations to Singh on Wednesday over the United Progressive Alliance’s perceived failure to condemn alleged atrocities against Tamils in Sri Lanka. The DMK, with 18 members of parliament, depends on Tamil voters who have close ties to their counterparts in Sri Lanka. Its exit from the coalition less than a year before India is due to go to the polls means the government, which had already lost its parliamentary majority, is even more vulnerable to a no confidence vote. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party waded into the row, denouncing the raid as a “blatant” abuse of power by a government trying to cling to power. In a statement the CBI insisted that the operation “was strictly in accordance with procedures” and there was “no intention whatsoever to target any particular individual.” Indian politicians have previously come under fire for using the CBI to shield allies accused of graft or put pressure on rivals. Anti-corruption activists have repeatedly called for the agency to operate independently of government control. The DMK found itself at the centre of a massive graft case three years ago when one of its members, A Raja, then a telecoms minister in the UPA government, was accused of selling mobile phone licences at knock-down prices. Raja was forced to resign, his homes were raided and he was incarcerated on corruption charges for 15 months until he secured bail.