Lucknow, December 31: On Friday morning, as news tricked in of the Income Tax department holding raids at the house of Samajwadi Party MLC Pushpraj Jain Pampi, one was reminded of the astronomical levels of cash recovered from the trader in Kanpur who shared the same last name. After raids on Kanpur trader named Piyush Jain made headlines, the raids on Pushpraj Jain 'Pampi' has already started a debate in the political circles. Income Tax Department Conducts Raids at SP MLC Pushpraj Jain Pampi's House in Kannauj.

The poll bound state of Uttar Pradesh, due for elections early next year, has already seen the political discourse getting dominated by the recently held raids. Though it is still not clear what all the teams have unearthed in the raids, the name Pushpraj Jain is not new for political observers.

After some initial confusion, it is now clear beyond doubt that Pushpraj Jain is the same person who had launched the Samajwadi perfume or "itra" in a recent event which also had party president Akhilesh Yadav in attendance. Hours after the raids were conducted by the Income Tax department at the Kannauj home of Jain, Akhilesh Yadav addressed a press conference and attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the raids at Jain's home.

The press conference by SP president Akhilesh Yadav made it amply clear that Pushpraj Jain 'Pampi', as he is popularly known, is not just another party leader in the Samajwadi Party. For the uninitiated, Pushpraj Jain is a perfume baron who owns the Pragati Aroma Oil Distillers Pvt Ltd. Jain comes from Kannauj, which was considered as SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's stronghold. After Mulayam, Akhilesh continued the tradition and is considered close to the perfume traders in the region. Pushpraj Jain is one such trader who is also an SP MLC.

He also has business interests in Mumbai and visits the city often. "Samajwadi Party or I have nothing to do with Piyush Jain. It is clear from his profile who he is close to," he had said when he was asked about Piyush Jain after the raids on Kanpur trader.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 31, 2021 04:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).