Oppn slams BJP, calls for early K’taka elections

“The BJP has sped by corruption in the state to collect funds for the upcoming elections. The Congress will appeal to the Election Commission to declare the election at the earliest to avoid the corruption of the government. We also appeal to the PWD and other contractors not to take any work by paying bribes as our next government will review all the contracts and tenders issued in the last six months. The amount traced by Lokayukta in Channageri BJP MLA’s son Madalu Prashant’s house was one of the proofs BJP storing funds for the election,” Siddaramaiah said.

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah said on Friday that the Election Commission should announce polls in the state immediately and bring in the code of conduct to check the “corruption by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state”.

Lokayukta police recovers 6 crore rupees from the house of BJP MLA Madaal Virupakshappa's son Prashanth Kumar (PTI)

The statement comes after the BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa was booked on charges of corruption, a day after his son was caught red-handed taking a bribe at the father’s office.

“The BJP has sped by corruption in the state to collect funds for the upcoming elections. The Congress will appeal to the Election Commission to declare the election at the earliest to avoid the corruption of the government. We also appeal to the PWD and other contractors not to take any work by paying bribes as our next government will review all the contracts and tenders issued in the last six months. The amount traced by Lokayukta in Channageri BJP MLA’s son Madalu Prashant’s house was one of the proofs BJP storing funds for the election,” Siddaramaiah said.

He added that every minister and chairman of the board and corporations were given a target of funds which they must pay before March 15, before the election dates are announced.

However, senior BJP leaders questioned why action should be taken against the MLA when the money was seized from his son.

“Why should the MLA resign? His son is a government official. He has taken the bribe in his capacity as a government employee, and he will face the consequences for that. Why should Virupakshappa resign if money is found with his son? And why should the chief minister resign over this matter?,” said law and parliamentary affairs minister JC Madhuswamy.

Responding to Madhuswamy’s statement, Siddaramaiah said: “If the bribe was connected to the MLA, why was his son taking a bribe for a (government-owned) company run by his father in his father’s office? These are all lies.”

Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy said that Union home minister Amit Shah, who has been attacking the Opposition over corruption, should make a statement on the Lokayukta raid during this visit to the state.

“He had called the JD(S) an ATM party, but it is clear to the people of the state who is corrupt. This (raids against BJP MLA and his son) is just a sample. He is the home minister… if a raid is launched against the BJP MLAs today, details of corruption worth crores of rupees will come out,” said Kumaraswamy.

Reacting to the MLA’s statement that he has no connection to the bribes taken by his son, Kumaraswamy said, “If he had no connection to the bribe, why did he resign from his post in the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd? Why did the CM ask for his resignation? They should have just taken action against the son and defended the MLA. But the government didn’t do it. In Karnataka for every ₹100 spent on work, only ₹20 reaches people.”