The former judge that the Congress government has chosen to head the inquiry commission on the alleged irregularities in COVID-19 management when the BJP government was in power, was a Congressman, Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister, said in Hubballi on Sunday.
“We have no objection to a transparent investigation, but it is well known that the former judge is a Congressman. Anyway, there is no truth in the corruption allegations against the then BJP government. It is better the State government drops its decision to conduct an inquiry and first information reports are directly with the police,” Mr. Joshi told journalists.
“Congress is another name for corruption. The then UPA government was involved in corruption of over ₹12 lakh crore,” he alleged. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are out on bail in the National Herald case,” the Union Minister said.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters in Hubballi that the government was committed to probing the allegations of irregularities during the pandemic.
Towards this end, he said, the government had constituted a commission headed by retired High Court judge John Michael Cunha. “A preliminary report has already been prepared by the department on the COVID-19 scam and submitted to the government,” he said.
In Belagavi, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi said it was natural for the Congress government to constitute an inquiry panel into the alleged irregularities in COVID management as the party had raised the issue.