CM, ministers got away because of weakened Lokayukta, says BSY

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and several of his Cabinet colleagues would have been in trouble with an array of charges against them had the Karnataka government not weakened the Lokayukta, BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Yeddyurappa blamed the chief minister for deliberately “destroying” the institution of Lokayukta and replacing it with a “dummy” authority.

Reacting to Siddaramaiah’s recent statement that Yeddyurappa had no moral right to comment on the government since there were several charge sheets against him and that he was out of jail on bail, the BJP leader only said, “It’s okay. Good.”

He said the arrest of IAS officer Gangaram Baderiya by the Special Investigation Team will soon reveal the role played by politicians in the Jantakal Enterprises case. The case dates back to 2007 when Baderiya was director of the Mines and Geology Department. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy was the chief minister. Baderiya has been arrested on charges of favouring a mining firm in return for a bribe.

“A bag of lies”

Yeddyurappa termed the booklet released by the Siddaramaiah government on completion of four years in office “a bag of lies”. He said the BJP will expose the “corrupt deeds” of the government during the 36-day “Janasamparka Abhiyan” tour across the state from Thursday.

According to Yeddyurappa, the major scams in the government include awarding a tender worth Rs 200 crore to Matrix Imaging Solutions in which Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra was a partner, irregularities to the tune of Rs 190 crore while setting up drinking water units and Rs 1,335-crore government grants going missing in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department.

Yeddyurappa said the chief minister was misleading people on the utilisation of grants. He said while Rs 14,399 crore had been earmarked in the 2016-17 budget for the welfare of SC/STs, the government had spent only Rs 5,604 crore. He said Siddaramaiah and his Cabinet colleagues should tour the state and assess the drought situation. “The chief minister has time to visit Dubai, watch two movies on the same day, but no time for the state,” he charged.

He said there is nothing wrong in senior leader K S Eshwarappa holding drought review meetings in a few districts. “He (Eshwarappa) is discharging his duties as Leader of the Opposition in Council,” Yeddyurappa said.