It's not BJP money, FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Rs 200 cr seized from perfume maker in Kannauj

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the nearly Rs 200 crore cash recovered from perfume maker Peeyush Jain is not BJP money, as she defended the timing of the tax raids saying they were based on actionable intelligence. Speaking to reporters after GST Council meeting, she said law enforcing agencies act on actionable intelligence in conducting raids.

"It is not BJP money," she said when asked about opposition charge that the Rs 197.49 crore cash recovered from perfume maker Peeyush Jain in UP's Kannauj was her party's money and the tax authorities had raided the person by "mistake" and are now raiding the other Jain they had originally wanted to target.

She said the former chief minister Akhliesh Yadav is "shaken" by the raids, as she sought to defend the action.

"How do you know whose money is it? Are you his partner? Because only partners know whose money is kept," she said.

Dismissing opposition charge that the raids were politically motivated, she asked if the raiding parties come empty handed.

Recovery of money shows there was actionable intelligence, she said, adding the raids happening on Friday too were based on such inputs.