Samajwadi Party-BJP 'perfume' wars as IT raids businessman

The BJP and the Samajwadi Party on Friday traded charges following the Income Tax department raids on SP leader and perfume-maker Pushpraj Jain in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh.

The two parties have been targeting each other since the raids against Piyush Jain, another perfume businessman, in Kannauj and Kanpur that revealed heaps of currency notes running into nearly ₹200 crore.

Yadav had then alleged that the actual target was Pushpraj Jain, but the central agency had raided the wrong businessman.

The IT department on Friday raided 50 locations across UP, Delhi and Mumbai allegedly linked to Pushpraj Jain, SP’s member in the legislative council and a businessman who owns a perfumery, petrol pumps and cold storage operations.

Following the raids, Yadav said Kannauj will see a “perfume revolution” in the UP election.

“The BJP spreads the smell of hate, how will they like the fragrance of inclusiveness? They want to malign Samajwadi Party’s name, but what is sad is they are defaming Kannauj in the process,” he said.

Alleging that Piyush Jain had links with the BJP, he said: ”The BJP should answer how so much money was found from a trader despite its decisions like GST and demonetisation. They had gone looking for Pushpraj Jain, who launched the Samajwadi perfume, but found Piyush Jain. To cover up their mistake, they have raided Pushpraj Jain now.

“I want to tell the people of Kannauj and the country that whenever the BJP feels they are losing, they do this. This BJP government is full of propaganda, but the people will teach them a lesson. 

“Is baar Kannauj se itra ka inqalaab hoga, 2022 mein badlaav hoga (This time, there will be perfume revolution in Kannauj, 2022 will see change).”

Soon after, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in UP, attacked the SP.

“The stench of Samajwadi perfume has spread through the country. Now when this perfume friend’s black money is being raided, they are feeling uneasy,” Shah said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also weighed in. “How does Uttar Pradesh former chief minister know that this is BJP’s money? Is he the partner? Is he scared,” she said on the sidelines of the press conference of the GST council meeting.

Asserting that both the raids – on the premises of Piyush Jain, which continued for almost a week, and the raid on Pushpraj Jain, on Friday – were based on specific inputs, the FM said: “Did they come empty-handed? Politicisation of such a thing is condemnable.”

On the timing of the raids coinciding with the UP election, Sitharaman said: “Should we wait for a muhurtam to catch the thief?”