Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa once again finds himself cornered with the Congress party demanding his resignation over an alleged corruption charge against his family members.
The Congress party on Wednesday made serious allegations of corruption and money laundering against the chief minister's son, grandson and son-in-law, while demanding his resignation in an alleged bribery case worth Rs 17 crore, related to a government housing project.
Randeep Surjewala, AICC general secretary and Karnataka incharge Randeep Surjewala, who held a press meet in Bengaluru, along with state Congress leaders, demanded an investigation into the alleged scandal and said the chief minister had no "moral, constitutional rights" to continue in the post.
"Mahatma Gandhi believed misgovernance and corruption go together. Karnataka is fast becoming a combination of the two under the Yediyurappa government. A deafening noise of corruption allegations has once again erupted. We are bewildered and appaled by the housing project scandal involving the family members of Yediyurappa and it would not have taken place without the CM's knowledge. He must step down as the CM, " demanded Surjewala.
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, elaborating on the allegations stated that a sting operation by a local television channel had exposed the scandal.
"Yediyurappa's son Vijayendra, grandson Sashidhar Maradi and son-in-law Virupakshappa Maradi (retired executive engineer who lives in Hubballi) are involved in the bribery case," said Siddaramaiah, adding that the state had two CMs - Yediyurappa and the "de facto CM" Vijayendra and this case had proven his point.
According to the Congress party leaders, who released a set of bank transaction documents, a tender was floated by the Bengaluru Development Authority for a housing project at an estimated cost of Rs 576 crore on October 11, 2017. Out of the two bidders, one Ramalingam Construction company bagged the contract for a revised estimate of Rs 666 crore and he deposited around Rs 33 crore. After Yediyurappa became the chief minister (on July 26,2019), the work orders were issued by the executive engineer, where the order was backdated as June 24, 2019.
"Vijayendra demanded a bribe of Rs 12 crore from the contractor and asked him to hand over the money to a hotel owner Ravi. A phone conversation between Vijayendra and the contractor and a series of WhatsApp chats between the contractor and Sasidhar have now revealed that Prakash took the bribe from the contractor but did not give it to Vijayendra. He also claimed he had paid Rs 15 crore to the CM and his son for the BDA Commissioner's post. Vijayendra asks the contractor to pay Rs 17 crore to him. As agreed, the contractor transferred Rs 7.40 crore by RTGS to Sashidhar. The remaining amount was delivered in cash to Virupakshappa's house in Hubballi," said Siddaramaiah.
Mocking Yediyurappa, Siddaramaiah said that Yediyurappa had not learnt his lesson. "Last time, he was in the dock for accepting a cheque (kickbacks) and this tine, it is money transferred through RTGS."
Making serious charges of money laundering and hawala transactions, Siddaramaiah stated that Vijayendra had transferred the black money" to seven shell companies in Kolkata - Remac Distributors, Sakambari Merchants, Strategic Vincom, Jagdamba Commodities Sales, Gan Nayak Commodities Trade, Navtech Creation and Rajgharana Sales between March and July this year”.
"The shell companies deposited the money into a Corporation Bank aaccount belonging to a Bengaluru-based company - Belgravia Enterprises Pvt Ltd, believed to be owned by the CM's family members. The money was again transferred to VSS Estates and then to VSS works (suspected to be owned by Vijayendra, Sashidhara and Sanjay). The VSS works opened five fixed deposits with Rs one crore in each," said Siddaramaiah.
The former CM also stated that housing project proposal had been favoured by the earlier BDA commissioner Rakesh Singh. He had written a letter to the chief secretary stating they could not take up the project as BDA had no resources and there were already many flats but had no takers.
"This is prima facie a case of corruption, money laundering and criminal conspiracy. Why is the Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate keeping mum over this case? Are they keen only on making false cases against the opposition party members and to topple the government? The CM's family is indulging in daylight robbery. The agencies should file Criminal cases against all those involved. Yediyurappa should step down immediately and pave the way for a fair investigation," demanded Siddaramaiah.
