The Congress in Mysuru has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G. Parameshwara to order a special probe headed by a retired High Court judge to enlarge the scope of investigation into the alleged fraud involving Hindutva activist Chaitra Kundapura.
The demand for a special probe with an enlarged scope was made by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana and Mysuru District Congress Committee president B.J. Vijaykumar at a press conference in Mysuru on Tuesday.
Mr. Vijaykumar said the scope of ongoing probe against Ms. Kundapura for allegedly cheating industrialist Govinda Babu Poojary of ₹5 crore by promising him BJP ticket in the recently held Assembly elections should be enlarged to cover not only the Police Sub Inspector (PSI) recruitment scam, but also the appointments to posts of Vice-Chancellors of various State universities and members of Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) made during the BJP tenure.
He said a delegation of Congress leaders will shortly meet Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Parameshwara and request them to order a special probe against Ms. Kundapura to unravel the wide extent of corruption that had taken place during the BJP rule in the State.
Mr. Vijaykumar even sought to recall a public statement reportedly made by Mysuru’s BJP MP Pratap Simha about the role of bribes in the appointments of Vice-Chancellors in the State. The alleged corruption in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors is also connected to the appointments made for various teaching and non-teaching posts in the universities, he alleged.
Similarly, corruption had allegedly dictated the appointments made to the posts of members of KPSC during the BJP rule, he alleged.
Hence, a special probe by a retired High Court judge with terms of reference enlarged to cover the PSI recruitment scam, appointments of Vice-Chancellors and members of KPSC should be ordered by the government, he said.
Earlier, Mr. Lakshmana said the case of industrialist Govinda Baby Poojary was just a tip of the iceberg. A total of 40 such cases had taken place in the BJP ahead of the last Assembly elections. Out of them, 17 had bagged ticket while 23 had failed to secure ticket despite paying money, the KPCC spokesperson alleged.
Mr. Lakshmana, who welcomed the decision of the BJP government at the Centre for approving the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Union Cabinet, recalled the Congress’ struggle to implement reservation for women in State Assemblies and Parliament.
Though the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha during the rule of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2010, it failed to pass through the Lok Sabha due to the opposition of a few alliance partners.
However, he said the Congress will welcome the introduction of the Bill in the Parliament and also seek reservation for Dalits and other categories among the women.
