dailyO
Variety

Kanpur Tax Raid: 2 Jains of Kannauj, and a verbal war between SP and BJP. 5 points

Advertisement
Mohammad Bilal
Mohammad BilalDec 29, 2021 | 16:49

Kanpur Tax Raid: 2 Jains of Kannauj, and a verbal war between SP and BJP. 5 points

BJP says that the Piyush Jain raided in Kanpur is close to SP while SP says that the Jain whom they know is not the one who is raided. What is the confusion about these two Jains that have led SP-BJP at loggerheads

As the UP Assembly elections draw close, the war of words between SP and BJP has intensified. The recent Kanpur raids at perfume businessman Piyush Jain’s residence and his premises in Kannauj, which led to GST authorities recovering Rs 195 crore in cash and 23 kg of gold, has only aggravated this blame game.

On Monday, December 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked SP leader Akhilesh Yadav saying that SP has sprinkled the ‘perfume of corruption’ all over UP during their stint in power. Meanwhile, the SP leader has said that the BJP has made a mistake and raided one of its own men, implying that the SP's Jain from Kannauj has nothing to do with this raid.

Advertisement

There are two Jains at the centre of this verbal war between SP and BJP. Who are they?

1. SAME SURNAME, BUSINESS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD

One of the bizarre coincidences here is that perfume businessman Piyush Jain from Kanpur who was raided, belongs to the same locality, Jain Street, from Kannauj, where SP’s MLC Pushpraj Pampi Jain lives and is (also) into the perfume business. Moreover, both the individuals share the same initials - P - and they have the same surname, Jain. Both of them are in the perfume business. And in this bitter verbal war ahead of the UP elections, both the Jains have become the talk of town.

2. WHO IS SP MLC PUSHPRAJ JAIN?

11_122921024116.jpg
SP MLC and perfume businessman Pushpraj Pampi Jain. Photo: Facebook

Pushpraj Pampi Jain, 60, is a philanthropist and an SP MLC from Etawah-Farrukhabad who owns a petrol pump, a cold storage unit, and has a house and office in Mumbai. He is the owner of Pragati Armoa Oil Distillers Pvt Limited. He expanded the business started by his father Savilal Jain in 1950. He has three brothers, along with whom he runs the business and shares a house in Kannauj.

In the election affidavit in 2016, Jain declared movable assets worth Rs 37.15 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 10.1 crore. Jain has a criminal record and studied till Class 12 at Swaroop Narayan Intermediate College in Kannauj.

Advertisement

It was his perfume Attar Nagri, also known as the Samajwadi Perfume, that was launched in front of Akhilesh Yadav in Kannauj in November this year.

Speaking to Indian Express, Pushpraj Jain said, ”I have nothing to do with Piyush Jain. The only common thing is that Piyush Jain is from the same community as me. If a raid has been done against him, he will deal with it himself.”

3. PIYUSH JAIN, THE RAIDED BUSINESSMAN

647-2_122921024150.jpg
Kanpur perfume businessman Piyush Jain. Photo: PTI

Piyush Jain, 50, the perfume businessman who was raided by the GST authorities in Kanpur, is said to keep a low profile, would ride on a scooter and wouldn’t meddle into others' affairs. GST authorities recovered Rs 195 crore in cash, 23 kg gold and 600 kg of sandalwood oil worth Rs 6 crore from his residence and factory in Kanpur and Kannauj.

A neighbour of Piyush Jain said that the perfume businessman started as a salesman in a company in Mumbai. Being well-versed in chemistry, he started making compounds for soaps, detergents, etc. As he grew up, he expanded his family business and started making soap and detergent compounds. After that, this Jain started making edible compounds for tobacco products like gutkha. Gradually, he started with his perfume business. After this, he moved from Kannauj to Kanpur after the business expanded.

Advertisement

He has three children. His daughter Nilansha is a pilot and is married, while his two sons Pratyush and Priyansh stay with him at their Kanpur home.

The raid at his home concluded yesterday and he was arrested on charges of tax evasion, produced in court and sent to 14 days' judicial custody.

4. DIGITAL MISTAKE?

SP leader Akhilesh Yadav in a rally in Unnao said that it was his MLC Pushpraj Jain who was on the radar of the BJP-led NDA, but by mistake, they ended up raiding the wrong Jain, who also happens to be from Kannauj and currently lives in Kanpur with his family.

Akhilesh said, “They wanted to raid Pushpraj Jain, but by mistake raided Piyush Jain. It seemed like a mistake of Digital India.”

Accelerating his counter-attack against the BJP, Akhilesh said it was their MLC Pushpraj Jain who made the Samajwadi Perfume and the BJP pounced on the SP through media, that the raided person has connections with the SP. He said, “There isn’t a bigger lie than this.”

The former UP CM further said, ”By afternoon, the journalists who were aware understood that the person raided had nothing to do with the SP. Then, they also changed their statements. In the morning, the headlines were that ‘SP businessman of ittra raided’. You should think that the raid was done at the wrong place, against their own person. You should get out his call details and you will find BJP people’s names.”

5. PERFUME OF CORRUPTION

13_122921024421.jpg
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: PTI

Sambit Patra, BJP spokesperson on Twitter first said that the raided person Piyush Jain in Kanpur belongs to SP and that the black money recovered from Jain is of the SP.

SP had denied all the links with raided businessman Piyush Jain of Kanpur and said that the person they know is Pushpraj Jain, an SP MLC whose perfume Samajwadi Perfume also called Attar Nagri, was launched in Kannauj.

When big financial numbers started tumbling out of the raid, SP and BJP got at each other's throats.

On Monday, after the inauguration of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project, PM Modi attacked SP for its close links with the corrupt businessman Piyush Jain.

Speaking at a public meeting after the inauguration, the PM said, ”The perfume of corruption they (SP) had sprinkled all over UP before 2017 is there for everyone to see. But now, they are keeping their mouths shut and not coming forward to take credit. The mountain of notes that the entire nation has seen, that is their achievement and reality.”

Last updated: December 29, 2021 | 16:49
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy