Enforcement Directorate got active in Karnataka on Wednesday with a series of raids on educational institutions linked to state Home Minister G Parameshwara, instantly drawing sharp criticism from the Congress that the searches were politically motivated.

The raids began early morning at a medical college and an educational institute in Tumakuru in a case relating to money laundering connected to Kannada film actor Ranya Rao’s gold smuggling case. The raids took place at the Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology and the Sri Siddhartha Medical College, run by a trust owned by the family members related to the state home minister. The ED is believed to have carried out raids after it found a money trail between the alleged gold smuggler Ramya Rao and the medical college linked to the Congress leader.

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Condemning the raids on institutions linked to Parameshwara, the Congress said that he was being targeted because he was a tall and prominent Dalit leader in the party. “This is nothing but a political vendetta,” said Saleem Ahmed, adding that the BJP is using central agencies to undermine key leaders ahead of elections.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said, “I am sure there is no way the Home Minister is involved… he is a decent and simple man.”

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, in charge of party affairs in Karnataka, said the attack on the state’s tallest Dalit leader is a frustrated reaction of the BJP and Modi government to the giving of ownership rights to 1 lakh SC-ST families yesterday at Hosapete.

”Revenge against the Dalit leader is part of a sinister design of the BJP to assault the Constitution and leaders of SC-ST-OBC communities, which has become a habit of the BJP,” Surjewala said in a social media post on X.

Dr Parameshwara has run Siddartha Institute of Technology, set up 46 years ago in 1979, and Siddartha Medical College, Tumkur, set up 28 years ago in 1988. “It is indeed surprising that after 46 years of setting up of this institution, the Modi government is searching for wrongdoing, while the BJP’s corruption in Karnataka is being actively investigated by the Home Ministry and Dr Parameshwara,” Surjewala said.