'Comparing Lakhimpur to Jallianwala Bagh led to I-T raids on Ajit Pawar's kin'

NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday reiterated that the Income Tax Departments raids on Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawars relatives and aides came after his comparison of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre during the British ruleSpeaking at a meeting of his party in Solapur Pawar wondered if people had the right to express their views freely in the countryThe IT raids were carried out because I likened the Lakhimpur Kheri violence to Jallianwala Bagh massacreDont we have the right to air our views in democracy he askedThe IT department on Thursday raided some businesses linked to family members of Ajit Pawar and some real estate developers on charges of alleged tax evasionThe premises linked to business groups such as DB Realty Shivalik Jarandeshwar Sahkari Sugar Karkhana Jarandeshwar SSK and businesses linked to Ajit Pawars sisters were raided during the operation official sources had saidAlso read Jallianwala Baghlike situation in Uttar Pradesh Sharad Pawar on Lakhimpur Kheri violenceOn Tuesday Pawar had drawn a parallel between the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight persons were killed and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and said people would show the BJP its placeThe former Union minister on Friday alleged that the BJPled central government was leaving no stone unturned to trouble the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government of Shiv Sena NCP and Congress in MaharashtraThe state government is not being given its rightful share in the central funds he addedWe need to remove the BJP from our path In the recent bypolls of local bodies the MVA allies which contested separately won 70 per cent of the seats There is no doubt in my mind that if we fight together we will get better results We have to now figure out how to contest the future elections he saidPawar accused the BJP of being anti farmer and indulging in misuse of powerHe said that a complete shutdown should be observed during the October 11 Maharashtra bandh and it should be carried out in a peaceful mannerNothing should be open except the essential services he saidThe Maharashtra Cabinet had on Wednesday expressed regret over the death of farmers in the violence at Lakhimpur Kheri while the ruling allies here called for a statewide bandh on October 11 to protest against the incident in the Uttar Pradesh district as they sought to corner the BJP over the tragedyThe Shiv Sena the NCP and the Congress allies in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA gave the call for Maharashtra bandh to protest against the violence inLakhimpur Kheri where eight people four of them farmers were killed on SundayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever