As D K Shivakumar appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the third time on Monday, his mother, Gowramma, accused the BJP of being jealous of her son's political growth. The ED has been grilling Shiva Kumar in connection with the alleged money laundering case. Gowramma also claimed that they have not become wealthy overnight but they have been wealthy for ages. " They are charging us for having so much of wealth. We are not overnight rich. My father-in-law Kempe Gowda was a big name in the village...," she recalled.  Gowramma further added, that her house was also raided when Shivakumar was only a seven or eight-year-old child, and that the family had come out clean. 

Read DK Shivakumar appears before ED for 2nd day in PMLA case

Talking to the reporters in her ancestral village of Kanakapura, Shivakumar's mother, Gowramma said, "They lack empathy. The BJP and nobody else, is doing it (to Shivakumar). They are jealous that he is growing (politically) but we can't help it,"

'We have been wealthy for ages': Gowramma 

Read DK Shivakumar summoned by ED; plays victim & 'loyal Cong soldier' card

"We have never killed anyone nor stolen anything or cheated anybody.. We have toiled hard to make this wealth some people could not tolerate it," she said. 

Gowramma also expressed her family's sadness as for the first time, Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, an MP from a rural constituency in Bengaluru, were not home for Ganesh Chaturthi festivities. D K Suresh was with his brother in New Delhi today as the ED questioned Shivakumar for the third day.

Read  Karnataka High Court rejects DK Shivakumar's plea against ED summons

ED refuses Shivakumar's plea

Last September ED had filed a money laundering case against DK Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah (Employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi), and others. The case was filed based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income Tax (IT) Department before a special court in Bengaluru on the charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transaction worth crores. The  IT department had accused Shivakumar and his associate S K Sharma of transporting a big amount of unaccounted tax through 'hawala' channels with the help of three other accused in the case. 

Read INX Media case: ED seeks Chidambaram's custodial interrogation

(With inputs from PTI)