Bengaluru: State Congress working president Dinesh Gundu Rao on Sunday charged the BJP with misusing Income Tax (I-T) department to target Congress leaders in Karnataka.

Hours after state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa demanded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s resignation on the charges of taking a kickback of Rs 150 crore, Gundu Rao tweeted:

“Misuse of I-T on Congress leader in K’taka by @narendramodi & BJP4India continues. Political vendetta at its worst.”

Yeddyurappa claimed that the kickback was mentioned in a diary maintained by Congress MLC K Govindaraj, whose residence was raided by the I-T officials a few months ago.

Govindaraj is also a parliamentary secretary to the chief minister. When contacted, Govindaraj denied the charges and accused the BJP leader of making baseless charges in order to defame him. “He (Yeddyurappa) has not substantiated his charges with documentary evidence. I will react properly if he releases any document,” he stated.