Sonia, Rahul must answer for Rs 351-cr cash seized in I-T raids: Nadda

New Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI) BJP MPs led by party chief J P Nadda on Monday held a protest in the Parliament Complex, alleging the cash seized by the income tax department during raids on a distillery company linked to a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand proved that the opposition party was "neck-deep" in corruption.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg... Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will have to answer whose money it is and how it was looted,” Nadda said after Rs 351 crore were seized by income tax sleuths during searches against Boudh Distillery Private Limited, owned by the family of Congress MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu.

Holding placards near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue, the protesting MPs also demanded Sahu's arrest.

The cash seizure is the "highest-ever" haul in a single action by any probe agency in the country, official sources had said on Sunday.

“Congress party and corruption are the two sides of the same coin. Congress is known for corruption, commission and criminalisation. Corruption and malpractices are the custom and policies of the Congress,” Nadda alleged.

The “black money” seized by the Income Tax department at various places linked to the Congress MP is just a small part of “this person’s corruption”, Nadda told reporters.

“Recovery is the living proof of the Congress accumulating the hard-earned money of the people through corruption. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Congress is neck deep in corruption,” Nadda charged.

“Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants Sonia Gandhi, Congress and Rahul Gandhi, who has been repeatedly taking a dig at the central probe agencies and levelling allegations against them, to give a reply on this loot money accumulated through corruption,” Nadda said.

The BJP chief said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is committed to taking action against corruption.

“The BJP under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership will take a sigh of relief only after all corrupts are put behind bars. We will tell people about their misdeeds and expose them,” Nadda added.

Senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar also hit out at the Congress and said the massive cash seizure has “shocked” the entire country.

“The machines are still counting the cash (seized by the IT department) for the last four days…it’s more than Rs 354 crore now and the amount could go up to reach Rs 1000 crore.

"This was Congress' ATM machine. That's why he (Sahu) has not been ousted from the Congress. We condemn it,” he told PTI at Parliament Complex.

The Congress has become so “shameless” that it is supporting Sahu instead of expelling him from the party, he charged.

BJP members in Lok Sabha also raked up the issue of cash seizure in the House on Monday.

Sanjay Seth, the BJP member from Ranchi, raised the issue during the Zero Hour, seeking a reply from the Congress.Several other BJP MPs sitting next to him displayed newspapers with reports of the recovery of cash to drive home their point.

Rajendra Agrawal, who was chairing the proceedings, urged members not to name the Rajya Sabha member and asked them to put down the newspapers. PTI