Bengaluru: Continuing his attack on Chief Minister Siddaramaah, BJP state President BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday made one more allegation against Siddaramaiah. Yeddyurappa said Siddaramaiah has received Rs 65 crore kickbacks in the proposed steel flyover project in Bengaluru from the promoters of the project.
It may be recalled that Yeddyurappa on Thursday caused ripples in state politics by alleging that Siddaramaiah had paid Rs 1,000 crore to Congress high command to retain chief minister’s post. On Sunday Yeddyurappa made one more charge of Rs 65 crore kickbacks from the promoters of the steel flyover project. He claimed that he is making this charge based on the information found in a diary recovered by Enforcement Directorate(ED) and Income Tax (IT) officials during a recent raid on the residence and office of MLC Govindaraju, a close confidant of Siddaramaiah. “According to the notings found in the diary, Rs 150 crore commission deal has been struck in the steel flyover project, of which Rs 65 crore has already been paid through Siddaramaiah’s trusted lieutenants,” Yeddyurappa said.
However, the BJP state president has declined to produce any documents to substantiate his charges and said that it would be revealed at an appropriate time.
Yeddyurappa wanted Siddaramaiah to come clean on the charges or tender his resignation. “I will continue this attack on Siddaramaiah by exposing more such shady deals mentioned in the diary, which will make it impossible for Siddaramaiah to continue in his post. BJP floor leaders will also raise the issue in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council on Monday. Let the Chief Minister answer the questions I have raised. BJP would also stage protests against Siddaramaiah,” he said.
Yeddyurappa challenged Siddaramaiah to deny the existence of such a diary, which has been seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or accept the irregularities and quit.
When asked about such diary notings not standing legal scrutiny as stated by the Supreme Court recently in a case related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Yeddyurappa said the detailed notings in the diary found in MLC’s house cannot be compared to the stray papers produced against Modi.
