Karnataka Congress triggers political row over CCD founder VG Siddhartha`s death, blames `tax terror`

The Karnataka Congress alleged that CCD founder VG Siddhartha`s death was a `result of harassment` by officials of the Income Tax department.

The sudden demise of Café Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha has come as a shock for many. However, shortly after his body was recovered on the banks of Netrvati River in Mangaluru after a search that went on for over 24 hours, an attempt to politicise the issue was made by the Karnataka unit of the Congress party.

Taking to microblogging site Twitter on Wednesday, the Karnataka Congress alleged that Siddhartha’s death was a “result of harassment” by officials of the Income Tax department. The tweet said that the CCD founder’s death proved that the country’s entrepreneurial position was “turning virulent”.

According to the Congress party, “tax terror” and “collapse of economy” are the reasons that led to the death of VG Siddhartha.

The Congress also used the opportunity to launch a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre, saying, “Companies which flourished under UPA have been shut down with many people being jobless”.

“#VGSiddhartha case is very unfortunate. Result of harassment by IT officials & decline of India’s entrepreneurial position turning virulent by the day, with Tax Terror & collapse of economy. Companies which flourished under UPA have been shut down with many people being jobless,” read the tweet posted by Karnataka unit of the grand old party.

The tweet triggered some angry reactions on the microblogging site, with many terming it as “insensitive”.

Siddhartha’s body was found after a massive search operation launched on Tuesday. The 60-year-old had gone missing between 6 pm to 8 pm on Monday night. He was on his way towards Sakleshpur town in an Innova when he asked the driver to turn towards Mangaluru. He later got off near the bridge across Netravati river and went missing.

A letter, written by Siddhartha to Board of Directors and employees of CCD, had emerged amid the search operation. In the letter, Siddhartha had mentioned that he “failed” to create a successful business despite the best of his attempts.