Tax raid at Akhilesh aide Rajeev Rai’s place ahead of polls; ‘Have no black money,’ says SP leader

The income tax department came knocking on the door of Samajwadi Party leader Rajeev Rai, who is also a close aide of Akhilesh Yadav, as a team conducted searches at his premises on Saturday.

According to department sources, several raids were being conducted at various places in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from Rajiv Rai in Mau, the premises of RCL Group promoter Manoj Yadav in Mainpuri were also raided.

Reacting to the raid, Rajeev Rai said to ANI that the government will make a case out of anything. “I have no criminal background or black money. I help people and the government did not like it. This is a result of that. If you do anything, then they will make a video, register an FIR and you will fight a case unnecessarily,” the SP leader said.

Another aide of Akhilesh, Manoj Yadav, has also come on tax radar, reports said. The simultaneous searches began at around 7am.

The raids come at a time when the state is all set for the election and Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav has been taking on the BJP over several of its projects.

Who is Rajeev Rai?

Rajeev Rai is the national spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party. His personal website describes him as the most important person in Team Akhilesh when the party won the election in 2012. He was the Lok Sabha candidate for Ghosi in 2014. Rajeev Rai is also the founder and chairman of AVK Group of Institutions, a chain of institutions in Bengaluru.

Rajeev Rai has also been conferred a doctorate degree by the University of Ballsbridge in the field of education, his website said.