Rahul accuses Modi govt of carrying out raids against those who are pro-farmers

PTI, Mar 4, 2021, 11:56 AM IST

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used three popular Hindi idioms on Thursday to hit out at the government and accuse it of carrying out raids against those who are pro-farmers.

A day after income-tax raids on the homes and offices of Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and others, Gandhi used the hashtag ‘ModiRaidsProFarmers’ with his tweet in Hindi to take a dig at the government.

Putting out three popular Hindi idioms – ‘Ungliyon pe nachana’, ‘Bheegi billi banna’ and ‘Khisiyani billi khamba neeche’ — Gandhi stated what he believes they mean in the current context.

In his three pronged attack, he alleged that the Central government makes the Income Tax Department dance to its tunes, friendly media gets cowed down before the Centre and the Central government raids those supporting farmers.

The searches against Pannu and Kashyap as well as his partners who launched the now shuttered production house Phantom Films were carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune. They were part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films, officials said.

Pannu and Kashyap, both known to be outspoken in their views on a range of issues, were shooting in Pune and are understood to have been questioned by the tax sleuths as part of the preliminary questioning that takes place during raids.

The raids also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed.