Ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections, the Income Tax (IT) department on Saturday conducted raids at the residence of Sunil Srivastava, personal secretary to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in Ranchi.

The raids were reportedly conducted at nine locations across Ranchi and Jamshedpur in connection with an alleged land scam case.

Advertisement

This comes as Jharkhand prepares for a two-phase election on November 13 and 20, with the results to be declared on November 23.

The state assembly has 81 seats, with both the BJP and JMM-led alliance engaged in high-stakes campaigns to secure a majority.

In response to the raids, the Jharkhand CM said that a new cadre of the BJP has emerged.

“Raids have started, a new cadre of BJP has emerged in the area. No problem, we will see it,” he remarked.

Earlier on Thursday, Soren accused the BJP of targeting him like “cowardly British,” challenging them to engage in a direct political contest.

“If you have the courage, fight face-to-face… why keep attacking from behind like cowardly British?” Soren said on X, formerly Twitter. He alleged that the BJP was using central agencies and shadow ads to tarnish his image before polls.

Meanwhile, State BJP chief Babulal Marandi defended the actions of the central agencies, asserting that they were simply fulfilling their duties.

“Agencies are doing their work. Just like we are campaigning, they are also doing their work,” Marandi remarked.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey also commented on the developments, stating, “Sunil Srivastava is a junior engineer. His wife has become the director of 10 companies… He is an officer, a public servant, not a JMM worker. If raids are being conducted on an officer, what impact will it have on the elections?”