Income tax (I-T) department officials on Wednesday conducted simultaneous day-long searches on premises linked to TMC leader Krishna Kalyani — who is still a BJP MLA on paper — in Raiganj, Malda and in Kolkata in connection with alleged disproportionate assets (DA) possessed by him.
An industrialist by profession, Kalyani joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls and won from Raiganj Assembly constituency on a BJP ticket in Uttar Dinajpur district. However, later in 2021, he joined the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) but officially remained a BJP legislator. Despite the BJP asking him to resign from the post, Kalyani refused to do so and even claimed that he was with
the BJP.
As he is a BJP MLA on paper, Kalyani was made the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the state Assembly in 2022, a chair that is by convention occupied by an MLA from the opposition bench.
According to I-T department officials, search operations were conducted at multiple locations linked to the MLA and his business partner in Raiganj, Malda and Kolkata against complaints of alleged disproportionate assets.