The Congress party, which has planned a series of protests demanding the arrest of senior BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa, will soon take up a campaign to revive the corruption charges against other BJP Ministers in which inquiries were pending .
Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Sunday, KPCC spokesperson M. Lakshmana said complaints of corruption were pending against Minister for Agriculture B.C. Patil, Minister for Revenue R. Ashok, Minister for Excise Gopalaiah and Minister for Muzrai, Haj and Wakf Shashikala Jolle, but there was no progress in the inquiries against them.
With regard to Mr. Patil, Mr Lakshmana said the officials of Agriculture Department had submitted a complaint to the former Chief Secretary T.M. Vijaybhaskar about the bribe demanded from officials to continue in their present posting. Though Mr. Vijaybhaskar had set up a committee to look into the charges, there was no progress in the inquiry.
Similiarly, a sub-registrar had lodged a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) against the demand for bribe by an aide of Revenue Minister Mr. Ashok. “What happened to the inquiry?”, he sought to know.
Ms. Jolle, during her earlier stint as Minister for Women and Child Development, was accused of corruption in the free egg distribution scheme for children of anganwadis in Kalyana Karnataka. “The inquiry ordered into the charges is not yet completed”, he said.
Mr. Gopalaiah is also facing charges of collecting bribes from officials and a complaint in the regard has been submitted to the then Chief Secretary Mr. Vijayabhaskar.
After the protests against Mr. Eshwarappa, the Congress party will take up a campaign against the corruption charges pending against these Ministers and ensure that the probes are taken to their logical end.
Mr. Lakshmana also referred to an allegation made by State Contractors Association President Kempanna against corruption in the Health Department headed by Minister D. Sudhakar.
Transfers
Mr. Lakshmana said a total of 153 Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) across the State were transferred just before Mr. Eshwarappa tendered his resignation in the wake of a controversy over the suicide of contractor Santosh Patil.
He suspected that money had changed hands in the mass transfer of a large number of PDOs including 29 from Mysuru. Karnataka was deeply enmeshed in corruption, he alleged.
