Cash seizure in Odisha tax raids shows how Congress has kept tradition of corruption alive, says BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi

New Delhi: The seizure of cash from some premises linked to Congress MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu in Income Tax department raids shows how the grand old party has kept the tradition of corruption alive generation after generation, the BJP said on Saturday.

A huge pile of cash has been recovered so far in the searches conducted by the Income Tax department against Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Private Limited and entities linked to it. Premises linked to Sahu were also covered as part of the searches, according to officials.

The seizure amount is expected to reach Rs 290 crore, making it the 'highest-ever' black money haul by any agency in a single operation, official sources said Saturday.

At a press conference at the BJP headquarters, party leader and Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi said, "The cash seized from Sahu is the biggest haul of cash that has been seized from corrupt persons so far. This shows how the Congress has spread corruption generation after generation and the tradition of corruption has been kept alive."

"Rs 300 crore recovered from just one Congress leader and counting is still on. Imagine if all the corrupt leaders of Congress are kept together, how many notes will be recovered," she said.

Congress leaders keep looking for the loopholes in the system to see how it can be manipulated for corruption, she added.

Lekhi said Sahu is a three-term Congress MP in Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand and claimed that he is “quite close” to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

“My question to Rahul is what was a person like him doing in your Bharat Jodo Yatra? He made him MP thrice. My question to Sonia Gandhi is how she allowed this person, who lost twice in Lok Sabha elections, to be elected to Rajya Sabha three times,” the BJP leader said. They have “a lot of things to explain,” she added.

"Generation after generation the tradition of corruption has been kept alive. And when you see the Congress family tree, it seems like family tree has branches made of corruption,” Lekhi charged.

“When Rahul says blood is thicker than water, all I can say is that ink on the fraudulent contracts is what he is speaking about because that definitely is thicker than any other corruption,” she added.

Lekhi alleged that the Congress leaders work like ATMs.

"Whose ATM was Dhiraj Sahu, a liquor baron who has involved in deep corruptions and an amount of Rs 300 crore plus has been found," the BJP leader asked.