Referring to Karnataka Contractors’ Association president D. Kempanna’s alleged charges of corruption against the Congress government in the State, BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister K.S. Eshwarappa demanded a thorough probe into the matter by a retired High Court judge.
At a media conference in Ballari on Monday, Mr. Eshwarappa addressed allegations that Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had been extracting bribes from contractors through a BBMP [Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike] officer Prahlad.
Mr. Eshwarappa was in the city to study the drought condition in the district as part of his party’s drought study programme.
“Even though no Minister took a bribe in the previous BJP government, the Congress had made a hue and cry by falsely projecting the government as a ‘40% commission government’. Karnataka State Contractors’ Association President D. Kempanna, who made the allegations, did not provide a single evidence to support his claims. Now, the same Kempanna has alleged that an officer called Prahlad is extracting bribe money from contractors in the name of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. I demand a thorough enquiry by a reared judge into the allegations to unearth the truth,” Mr. Eshwarappa said, specifically demanding a response from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the matter.
Mr. Eshwarappa said that the CM had been lying to the people of Karnataka on releasing the caste census in the State. “I may be stupid or an idiot as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah says. I can, however, confidently say that I am not as much a liar as Mr. Siddaramaiah is. Mr. Siddaramaiah has been saying that he would release the caste census report for the last many years. The report in question is, in fact, not scientific. Nirbhayananda Swamy has alleged that there were no signatures of competent authorities on some records. It is because of this reason that the caste census report is not released. It appears that it caste census is a big betrayal to Dalits and backward communities. If that is the case, Mr. Siddaramaiah should apologize to the people of the State,” Mr. Eshwarappa said.
Mr. Eshwarappa also trained his guns against Priyank Kharge, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister and spokesperson of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee by stating that the latter was just a kid in politics.
“Congress did not make Priyank Kharge’s father and All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Will it [Congress] make him [Priyank Kharge] the Chief Minister? Some in Congress bat for making G. Parameshwar Chief Minister and some others support D.K. Shivakumar for the post,” Mr. Eshwarappa said.
Mr. Eshwarappa later visited some drought-hit areas in the district as part of his party’s initiatives to study the drought condition in the State.
