Siddaramaiah questions PM on ‘rampant corruption’ in Karnataka

PTI, Nov 10, 2022, 7:50 PM IST

Harping on the ’40 per cent commission government’ barb, senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the ‘maladministration’ in Karnataka.

Ahead of Modi’s state visit on Friday, the former CM in an open letter targeted the BJP ministers calling a few of them ‘kingpins’ involved in scams.

The opposition leader in the Karnataka assembly also accused the PM of inaction over the written complaint from the victims of 40 percent commission government in the state.

”The BJP government in the state has become synonymous with corruption, with the people and media widely calling this government the ‘40 per cent Sarkara’,” Siddaramaiah alleged.

Noting that the BJP government in the state seized power three years ago by violating the mandate of our people, the Congress stalwart charged the BJP government with causing suffering through its ‘rampant corruption’ and ‘unfulfilled promises.’ ”Victims of this 40% Sarkara have in fact written to you on multiple occasions seeking your intervention, but you have turned a blind eye to the complaints. Earlier this year, when a contractor named Santosh Patil was pushed to commit suicide, it made no difference to your government.” He alleged that farmers, students, youth, teachers, women, business community and even seers have become the victims of corruption in the state.

According to him, the ‘Recognized Unaided Private Schools Association had also written to Modi directly recounting the injustices experienced at the hand of the 40 per cent government, without receiving any response.

“Your silence on these is both deafening and disheartening. What of your promise ‘Na Khaunga Na Khane Dunga’ and ‘Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas’? Does your silence mean that you are tacitly encouraging every BJP minister to loot the common man? Will you dare to sack all the tainted ministers from the cabinet?…,” Siddaramaiah asked in his letter.

He even sought to know how many ‘BJP scamsters’ have been investigated by the central agencies the way the leaders of opposition parties are being ‘harassed’ through such agencies for political reasons.

The Congress stalwart charged that the BJP has betrayed the people of the state by not fulfilling its promises made in the 2018 manifesto – Namma Karnatakakke Namma Vachana.

“Of the 600 promises made in that manifesto, over 90 per cent remain unfulfilled,” he claimed. Siddaramaiah also claimed that the state’s inflation rate has gone up to 7.62 per cent, while over a third of the youth in Karnataka are unemployed. He also alleged that the farmers’ input costs have skyrocketed and innocent people are dying due to potholes.

“I strongly demand that you respond to the questions of the people of the state and let the people know your actions to undo the injustices to our state, prior to your upcoming visit to Karnataka,” Siddaramaiah demanded.