A Belagavi-based civil contractor has said that he has been receiving threat calls after he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against what he said corruption in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Ministry.
Santosh Patil, who is also a national level office-bearer of Hindu Vahini, founded by Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, has pleaded that if his pending bills are not paid, he will be driven to take his own life. He has said that corruption has been institutionalised in the State Government.
He has said that Minister K.S. Eshwarappa is seeking bribe through his agents and has been harassing him for refusing to pay. Mr. Patil told The Hindu that he has spent at least ₹15 lakh towards bribe and other such expenses till now.
“I have spent around ₹4 crore on 108 road works that I completed in the village of Hindalga and surrounding areas in Belagavi district in February 2021. However, even after 14 months, I am unable to get my bills passed. Since the news of my letter to the Prime Minister broke out, I have been getting threat calls from the followers of Mr. Eshwarappa and some benami contractors,’’ Mr. Patil said.
“I had led a delegation to Mr. Eshwarappa asking him to take up repairs of roads in our village. We were organising the jatra of the village deity after 100 years and also ensured a BJP win in our gram panchayat. When we submitted a memorandum, Mr. Eshwarappa asked me to take up the roadworks,” he said.
Mr. Patil quoted Mr. Eshwarappa as saying: “You start the works, I will ensure that the work orders are issued and the bills released immediately.’’
He [the Minister] also assured me that he will ensure prompt payment by the department. “I am the RDPR Minister and I will ensure that no problems are created,’’ he [Mr. Eshwarappa] said, according to Mr. Patil.
“However, when I went back to him telling him that the works were completed, he did not approve my bills. He kept putting me off by not giving me work orders, saying that he will clear them later. Then, his associates asked me to spend some money on bribe and I paid around ₹15 lakh as bribe to the Minister’s associates and some officers. These are all standard practice in the State Government. Nothing gets done without bribe,’’ he said.
According to Mr. Patil, the RDPR Department is yet to issue work orders to five more contractors who have completed civil works in Hindalga, worth around ₹6 crore. “Of that, I alone spent around ₹4 crore on works. None of us have got our bills paid,’’ Mr. Patil said.
Mr. Patil said that he believes that the allegations made by members of the contractors association that they have to pay up to 40% of the cost of government projects as commission to Ministers and officers are not far from truth. “I am not surprised by these allegations. But I am surprised why the senior BJP leadership is not taking any steps to stop corruption,’’ Mr. Patil added.
“I have met Mr. Eshwarappa countless times. He never said that he will not help me. But he has been delaying it endlessly,’’ Mr. Patil said.
“I got married recently and there is a lot of pressure from my family to clear my debts. I am feeling depressed. At times, I have regretted being a Sangh Parivar worker and a BJP supporter. If they cannot protect one of their own, who will they protect?’’, he said.
Mr. Patil said that he met BJP national organising secretary B.L. Santosh with his complaint. “Mr. Santosh only told me that he will put in a word with Mr. Eshwarappa. I expected that he will call the Minister and reprimand him for harassing a Karyakarta. But he did not. For the enormous power he wields in the party, he could have resolved the issue in one minute. That did not happen. I was disappointed,’’ he said.
“I am getting a feeling that I should not blame Mr. Eshwarappa or any other individual leader. It is the system that is corrupt, all the big people are involved in it,’’ he said.
Mr. Patil said that he has raised money required for the contracts, by borrowing from friends and moneylenders. “Now, I need to pay them back, but I don’t have any money. I have made several trips to Bengaluru and New Delhi in the last one year, seeking an end to my financial troubles. Apart from leaders in Bengaluru, I have met Union Ministers, including Giriraj Singh, and party leaders, including Arun Singh, in Delhi. But neither the leaders in Bengaluru nor those in Delhi have helped me out. I don’t know where to go now,’’ he said.
He said that he has also sent a message to Yogi Adityanath seeking his intervention, but he has not received a response yet.
The RDPR Secretariat in Bengaluru has received a copy of Mr. Patil’s letter that has been forwarded by Union Minister Giriraj Singh’s office. However, some local RDPR officers told Mr. Patil that his works cannot be given post facto approval as he has taken them up when the Lok Sabha poll code of conduct was in force.
Mr. Patil, a Panchamasali Lingayat community leader, has worked as an ABVP volunteer and office-bearer of Hindu Vahini. He has campaigned for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and other States. “I have shared all these details with the Prime Minister’s Office. I am hopeful that I will get justice,’’ he said.
