The Opposition BJP began its two-day protest on Monday demanding resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar linking them with corruption in the backdrop of the recent I-T raids on a contractor that unearthed a huge haul of money.
Meanwhile, Mr. Siddaramaiah dismissed BJP’s allegations as “politically motivated” and “baseless.” When attempts are made to “politically link” the money found during the raid by Income Tax Department, it is a “political statement and baseless allegation”, he told reporters in Mysuru.
The BJP activists staged dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioners’ offices in various district centres demanding an end to the alleged corruption.
They reiterated their allegation that the money that was unearthed during the I-T raids was commission collected from contractors for clearing their pending bills and that the sum was meant to be transported to the five poll-bound States.
The BJP demanded that both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister should resign owning up moral responsibility for the alleged corruption. The BJP is set to stage similar protests in all the Assembly constituencies of the State on Tuesday.
Mr. Siddaramaiah dismissed the protests by the BJP on the issue. “They are staging protests for a political purpose in view of the coming elections to the Parliament and five States,” he said. He said the Congress High Command has never asked for even five paise till now. “All are false and baseless allegations,” he said.
