Congress leader and former Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday termed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons as politically motivated and said he would face the situation “legally, politically, and socially”.
The Minister told reporters, “I am a law-abiding citizen and I will honour the ED summons. I am not a coward son of Kempe Gowda (his father) to run away from the situation. I am being targeted politically.”
“This is a conspiracy to trouble me in all ways possible. As a loyal soldier of the Congress and a responsible politician, I did what my party asked me to do and I am being targeted for that,” he said before leaving for Delhi.
On Thursday night, the ED issued summons seeking Mr. Shivakumar’s personal appearance before if after the High Court of Karnataka dismissed his petition challenging an earlier summons issued in a case related to money laundering.
In August 2017, the Income Tax Department raided several premises owned by the Congress leader, his family members, and associates. He recalled that his house was raided when he was shielding around Gujarat 40 legislators from being poached by the the BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in August 2017. “As a loyal party worker, it was my bounden duty to keep the Gujarat MLAs safe. Politics has taken priority in this case. Being a Congressman, I have to take this pain. I feel happy to work for my party,” he said.