“Was there no corruption in Karnataka during the Congress regime?” said former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda amid a clash between the ruling BJP and Congress over the demand for commission to clear bills related to projects sanctioned by the State Government.
Speaking to reporters in Beechanahalli in H D Kote after participating in the Janata Jaladhare programme of the JD(S) at Kabini reservoir, Mr Gowda said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his poll rallies in Karnataka, had called the then Siddaramaiah-led government as ‘10 per cent’ government.
Mr Gowda said he would not want to speak about corruption now. “In the present-day scenario, one can do politics only with money. That is how bad it is. Who is honest?” He claimed that nobody could point a finger of corruption against him.
When his attention was drawn to the charge that contractors are forced to cough up as much as 40% as commission to get payment for their bills, Mr Gowda said the question can be posed to him only if his son was either the Minister for Public Works or for Irrigation.
Earlier, Mr Gowda participated in pooja and other religious rituals before water was collected from Kabini dam in pitchers and taken away in Ganga Raths as part of the Janata Jaladhare, a campaign started by the JD(S) to implement all the irrigation and drinking water projects in India in a time-bound manner.
Later, he flew in a helicopter to KRS reservoir, where also water was collected in pitchers and taken away in Ganga Raths as part of the Janata Jaladhare. A similar programme were held in other parts of Karnataka by the party.
Water collected from 15 places in different parts of India is being taken in Ganga Raths, which are modified four-wheelers, to 180 Assembly constituencies across Karnataka before converging in Bengaluru on May 8.
