Proven that it is ’40 pc commission govt’: Cong on BJP MLA’s son’s arrest for taking bribe in K’taka

PTI, Mar 4, 2023, 8:06 AM IST

New Delhi / Bengaluru: The Congress on Friday attacked the BJP over a Karnataka MLA’s son being arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe, with AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying it proves that it is a “40 per cent commission government” in the state.

Lokayukta sleuths recovered unaccounted cash of more than Rs 6 crore from the house of BJP MLA K Madal Virupakshappa’s son Prashanth Madal close on the heels of his arrest for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh.

Prashanth, the chief accountant of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, was caught red-handed on Thursday evening while accepting the bribe from a contractor at the Karnataka Soap and Detergents Limited (KSDL) office. The MLA is the Chairman of KSDL, makers of ‘Mysore Sandal’ soap.

“It is very bad. It has been proved that what the people were alleging that this is a 40 per cent commission government,” Kharge told PTI.

The Lokayukta should quickly take action against the “culprits who are doing all this”, he added.

Asked whether this incident would “benefit” Congress in the run up to the election, Kharge said, “We don’t make allegations to get votes. In the interest of the party, we will not just exploit such a situation but we have been saying that this (BJP) is a 40 per cent commission government.”

“Lots of corruption is there (in the government), and a lot of money is misused, and no project is qualitatively completed,” he said.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the BJP’s stink of corruption has not even spared the ‘Mysore sandal’ soap.

“People are distressed and have made up their mind for change. No matter how many road shows and rallies you (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) hold, people have made up their mind. We have constantly stood with the people and raised voice against corruption,” she said.

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said, “Whenever we said there is rampant corruption and 40 per cent commission is demanded from contractors, the chief minister asked us to furnish details. Isn’t this evidence that the 40 per cent commission government is functioning in the state.”

The Congress said it would lay siege to the chief minister’s residence on Race Course road in Bengaluru on Saturday demanding that Basavaraj Bommai quit his post taking moral responsibility.

Facing the heat, Virupakshappa, MLA from Channagiri constituency in Davangere district, on Friday tendered his resignation from the post.

In his resignation letter to the Bommai, he said there is no “relation” between him and the Lokayukta raid which he termed as a “conspiracy” against him and his family.