There was no need for ED probe into Valmiki Corporation irregularities, says Deputy CM Shivakumar

PTI, Jul 12, 2024, 4:27 PM IST

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday said there was no need for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into alleged financial irregularities in a state-run corporation, as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the state government was already on the job.

Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress chief, was reacting to a question on the agency taking former Minister B Nagendra into custody, as part of a money-laundering probe linked to the irregularities in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited.

“We (state govt) are doing an inquiry (through SIT), there was no need for it (ED probe), but they are doing it. I will try to know about it and then speak on it,” Shivakumar told reporters here.

Nagendra quit as Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister on June 6 in the wake of the alleged irregularities.

The ED carried out searches at several premises, including those linked to Nagendra and ruling Congress MLA Basanagouda Daddal, who is Chairman of the Corporation, in the last two days.

The agency covered around 20 locations in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra as part of a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

Reacting to BJP’s protest in Mysuru over alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by Mysuru Urban Development Authority, which involves plots given to the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife, Shivakumar said: “In Mysuru, they (BJP) are doing politics, there is no truth in it (allegations). When time comes, we will respond to it.”

Asserting that there is “no scam”, he said: “whatever has been done, was done during the BJP tenure; there is nothing. After winning the election (Lok Sabha), they want to see that Karnataka is in a bad shape. Nothing is there, everything is perfect. We will face all this politically.”

Claiming that a conspiracy is being hatched against him out of heartburn as he belongs to a backward class community and has become the Chief Minister for the second time, Siddaramaiah had, while denying the charges on Thursday, asserted that he won’t fear such moves by the BJP.

Responding to a question on Siddaramaiah’s claims that he was being targeted as he was from backward classes, Shivakumar said: “Definitely, definitely….”

“Only one big state is there (with Congress), so they want to demoralise the state, we won’t allow it,” Shivakumar said.