The Congress on Tuesday charged that the Basavaraj Bommai-led government in Karnataka had failed on all fronts owing to rampant corruption in administration and it should observe “Brashtachara Utsav” (utsav of corruption) to mark its one year in office.
‘40% commission’
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, in a joint press conference, said that the “double engine” government has not lived up to the expectations of the people and has became well-known for extracting “40% commission” in contract works. Instead of punishing the corrupt officials and Ministers, the government had given clean chit to former Minister K.S. Eshwarappa, they alleged.
Not a single section of society had benefited from the State government's policies. Scams in the recruitment of PSI, teaching staff in colleges, and delay in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) appointments have ruined the future of the youth., they said.
Question on PM’s stand
They sought to know the stance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the alleged “40% commission” in the execution of works in the State, and said Mr. Modi had levelled baseless charges of “10% commission” against the previous Congress government without complaint or evidence.
KPSC was not able to complete the recruitment process and former Minister S. Suresh Kumar staged a protest in front of the KPSC office seeking justice for candidates, they claimed.
The Opposition leader accused the BJP of failing to curb corruption, providing employment to youth, and doubling the income of farmers. “Inflation is high, making the lives of poor people difficult. Instead of reducing taxes on commodities, the GST panel headed by Mr. Bommai hiked taxes on essential commodities and burdened the common man and employees of all sectors,” Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged.
Communal situation
Law and order situation was totally broken and people were being killed on communal lines. The government insulted the leaders of the freedom movement and seers and writers by dropping their lessons in school textbooks, Mr. Shivakumar alleged.
On developments related to Bengaluru city, the leaders alleged that elections to the BBMP had been postponed citing one or the other reason. The delimitation of wards in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had not been done on scientific basis and there was no uniformity in fixing size of the population for wards, they said.
The government had not filled 10,000 potholes in Bengaluru city despite orders from the High Court of Karnataka, they alleged. A booklet on the failures of the government was released by the Congress.
