BENGALURU: Former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy has alleged corruption in transfer of officials under the new Congress government.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters JP Bhavan here on Saturday, Kumaraswamy said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered the transfer of an official, but the minister of the department concerned, who is currently abroad (M B Patil), had instructed the officer not to take up the new posting till he returns.
“How much money has changed hands? Now, a lot of ‘Jyothi’ schemes are going on. What do they have to say about this?” Kumaraswamy questioned. Further, he said the Chief Minister and Deputy CM have instructed the officials to follow the government’s orders strictly. “The Congress went to town accusing the BJP of taking 40 per cent commission. Now that the Congress is in power, will they investigate those allegations”, he questioned.
He said the new government has withheld work orders of works amounting to Rs 6,000 crore. “A Congress MP and MLA had pressured BBMP not to release Rs 675 crore to contractors for works already done and for which the LoC had been released, statng that their party will come to power. Now, the Congress government is demanding 5 per cent additional commission on the entire Rs 675 crore in one go to release the pending dues. This is over the 40 per cent allegedly paid during the BJP regime”, the JD(S) leader said.
Referring to some Congress leaders’ remarks, Kumaraswamy said, “If any officer says he paid bribes during the two terms when I was chief minister, I will take retirement from politics”. He also said the tussle between Congress leaders and the turncoats who joined the BJP later on, which started with the issue of posting in Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd when he was CM, continues even today. “I was not allowed to effect any transfers unless the Congress leaders okayed it. It was due to the tussle among themselves that the coalition government collapsed”, he added.