Taking exception to the way that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is investigating the alleged malpractices and irregularities in the examinations conducted for the recruitment of 545 Police Sub-Inspectors (PSIs), Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson and MLA for Chittapur Priyank Kharge asked the Government as to when the investigating agency would start probing the malpractices and irregularities reported in the other exam centres than those in Kalaburagi.
“The CID is focusing only on the examination centres in Kalaburagi. It is not seriously looking into the alleged malpractices and irregularities reported in other centres in the State. When would the Government direct the CID to extend its investigation? Is Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai afraid of the fall of his Government if the CID extends its investigation to shed more light on the scam and unearth the involvement of senior functionaries in the Government? I demand the Government to not cover up the scam by limiting the investigation to Kalaburagi exam centres alone,” Mr. Kharge said during his brief interaction with mediapersons in Kalaburagi on Friday.
When asked about the notices served on him by the CID in connection with the PSI recruitment scam, the former Minister said that he had already replied to the notices.
“I don’t hit and run. I have already replied to the notices. The CID, which showed so much interest in serving three notices on me, has not served a single notice on the Ministers and senior officers who too had raised questions about the recruitment exam malpractices. The CID should clarify about its double standards and the reasons for it,” Mr. Khrage said.
Referring to the anti-conversion Bill, Mr. Kharge said that the Government was more interested in meeting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh agenda than addressing real issues of people.
“The Government is completely focusing on implementing RSS agenda. It is doing hardly anything to address the burning issue that the people are facing in their daily lives. It is flaring up communal issues to divert people’s attention from real issues and cover up its failure in addressing them… The Supreme Court has made it clear that the guidelines on the use of loudspeakers in religious institutions apply not just to masjids but also to temples and churches. But, the Government is focusing only on the loudspeakers on the masjids,” Mr. Kharge said.
