Will the Congress, which raised corruption by the BJP government, including the PSI scam and 40% commission ahead of the elections, take the issues to the logical end?
If the newly sworn-in Minister M.B. Patil is to be believed, they ought to. “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has already spoken to us. The investigation will be on case-to-case basis whether in irrigation or PSI scam or any other case. We will investigate and whoever is involved, whether officials or Ministers, will be punished,” he told a news channel.
Mr. Patil, who is among the eight Ministers to be sworn in on Saturday, said, “Mr. Siddaramaiah has told me that estimates were being jacked up and inflated estimates were being done. He has asked me to speak to experts and prevent such inflated estimates.” The Minister further said, “The 40% commission allegation was not ours. The contractors’ association wrote to the Prime Minister and a contractor even committed suicide as a fallout of this kind of corrupt practice. The BJP was asking for evidence. We have evidence in Madal (Virupakshappa) case. We will investigate and take them to the logical end.”
On Sunday, former Minister and senior leader Basavaraj Rayaraddi urged Mr. Siddaramaiah to set up a commission to probe into irregularities committed by the previous BJP government. “To provide a pro-people government that is transparent, I will suggest to the Chief Minister to appoint an inquiry commission to investigate corruption charges in works and departments,” he told reporters after meeting the Chief Minister at his residence here.
