RANCHI: As the counting of currency notes seized following income tax (I-T) raids against Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu continued on the fifth consecutive day in Ranchi and other locations on Sunday, the lawmaker’s party, for the first time, categorically dissociated itself from the hundreds of crores recovered from Sahu and his associates in Jharkhand and Odisha.The grand old party also said it was high time Sahu broke his silence and came clean on the matter.
Similar to senior Congress functionary Jairam Ramesh’s post on X on Saturday night, the party’s Jharkhand affair in-charge, Avinash Pande, who came to Ranchi on Sunday morning on a two-day visit, also said the issue is Sahu’s “personal” matter and only he can speak about it. “Even our party will want to know the source of the money,” he said.
Pande said, “While the I-T department is yet to officially say anything in connection with the ongoing raids and recoveries, based on whatever is published in the media, all that we can say is that it is his matter and only he can speak on it. The party’s stand is clear that it has nothing to do with the recovery of money. Dhiraj ji and his family have several business interests for many generations and only he can tell about the huge amounts of money recovered. As and when the I-T department makes things clearer and poses questions, we are sure he will provide suitable answers.”
The development comes amid the salvos fired by opposition BJP, which has been demanding legal action against Sahu coupled with a probe by the ED, ever since the news broke out. On Sunday, too, BJP staged a stir in Ranchi with its demands.
Reacting to the saffron party’s charges, Pande said: “BJP is trying to jump the gun and create a different narrative. However, at the party level, we, too, believe that it’s high time the MP broke his silence.”
Similar to senior Congress functionary Jairam Ramesh’s post on X on Saturday night, the party’s Jharkhand affair in-charge, Avinash Pande, who came to Ranchi on Sunday morning on a two-day visit, also said the issue is Sahu’s “personal” matter and only he can speak about it. “Even our party will want to know the source of the money,” he said.
Pande said, “While the I-T department is yet to officially say anything in connection with the ongoing raids and recoveries, based on whatever is published in the media, all that we can say is that it is his matter and only he can speak on it. The party’s stand is clear that it has nothing to do with the recovery of money. Dhiraj ji and his family have several business interests for many generations and only he can tell about the huge amounts of money recovered. As and when the I-T department makes things clearer and poses questions, we are sure he will provide suitable answers.”
The development comes amid the salvos fired by opposition BJP, which has been demanding legal action against Sahu coupled with a probe by the ED, ever since the news broke out. On Sunday, too, BJP staged a stir in Ranchi with its demands.
Reacting to the saffron party’s charges, Pande said: “BJP is trying to jump the gun and create a different narrative. However, at the party level, we, too, believe that it’s high time the MP broke his silence.”
