Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar today said that the Karnataka unit of the BJP was instigating the Congress party to expose its deep-rooted corruption.
Speaking to reporters at the City Civil Court, he said, “BJP in Karnataka is the most corrupt party in the entire country. They are literally asking to be exposed by filing a complaint against Congress advertisements. We will show what we are capable of.”
“The BJP has filed a complaint about certain advertisements issued by the Congress party. Our advertisements on the scams of the previous BJP government are purely based on the newspaper reports and the statements issued by some of the BJP leaders in Karnataka. Now that they have moved court, we will prove these allegations,” he said.
“Former Union Minister Yatnal himself had made corruption allegations against the BJP government in Karnataka. He had alleged that no one could become a minister without paying money in Karnataka BJP. It was the BJP leaders who had said that the Chief Minister’s post costs Rs 2,500 crores and the minister’s post costs Rs 100 crore,” he retorted.
“The Congress had given out advertisements titled ‘Cash for transfer’ on transfer corruption based on newspaper reports. It was reported in the media that the rate card for transfers in the State during the BJP rule was Rs 1.5 crore for the AC, Rs 80 lakh for the DySP, Rs 70 lakh for A grade Gazetted officers, Rs 60-80 lakh for tahsildars, Rs 40 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for PSI, Rs 80 lakh for Assistant engineers, Rs 50 lakh for Assistant Forest officer, Rs 10-15 lakh for SDA,” he detailed.
“We had not seriously pursued the corruption allegations on the State unit of the BJP. Now that they themselves are asking for it, we will give it to them. They have added Rahul Gandhi’s name also to gain publicity. He could not come today as he was busy with an INDIA alliance meeting. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and I have come to the Court. BJP is doing politics in this, we know politics too,” he said.
“Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and I have been named in the complaint. We respect the law and hence Rahul Gandhi will come to the Court soon. We will inform you about the dates,” he added.
Valmiki Development Corporation
Asked about the Valmiki Development Corporation scam, he said, “We will not spare the perpetrators. Such incidents have happened during BJP’s rule too. We will conduct a thorough investigation. The investigating officers are chasing the money trail and we will get the money back. Some people also have been arrested in the case till now.”
Asked about the demand for a CBI inquiry into the case, he said, “Scams of certain value directly go to the CBI, there is no role of the government in this. We will fully cooperate to the investigation.”