The Bharatiya Janata Party was expecting the Enforcement Directorate to ascertain the reference made with regard to Rs.1000 crore slush money purportedly paid by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the Congress high command in the diary obtained during a raid at the house of K. Govindraju, Congress MLC, according to former Minister and senior BJP leader Umesh V. Katti, MLA.
He told presspersons here on Saturday that the Chief Minister was ‘upset’ following the revelation and was “issuing irresponsible statements” to the media instead of coming clean.
When it was pointed out that the Supreme Court had declined to order a probe into huge pay-offs by big business establishment to politicians, including the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, on the basis of “not authentic and fictitious” documents allegedly seized by Income Tax department sleuths during a raid at the offices of Sahara and Birla groups last year, he said the charges against Mr. Modi were political. But there were substantial evidences in case of Mr. Siddaramaiah suggesting Rs.65 crore changing hands in the steel bridge issue. Also, the diary was recovered from the house of a person Congress who is a known aide of the Chief Minister.
Mr. Katti demanded immediate resignation of Small Scale Industries Minister and Belagavi district in-charge Ramesh L. Jarkiholi and Karnataka Pradesh Mahila Congress President Laxmi R. Hebbalkar from their respective posts in the light of I-T raids carried out on their residential premises recently. But, the Congress was not willing to take any action. “If these two persons have any self-respect, they must resign first.”
He said the I-T raids at the houses of two Congress leaders were first in the series in the aftermath of the demonetisation of currencies of higher denomination.
‘Demand for Statehood for N-K region is alive’
Mr. Katti said the demand for statehood for North Karnataka region is alive, and the people of the region would take up the issue at the appropriate time.
He had landed in a controversy after placing his demand and earned the wrath of his own party bosses four years ago.
Protest
Suresh C. Angadi, MP, who was present, said Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagdish Shettar and his counterpart in the Council K.S. Eshwarappa will lead a rally in Belagavi city on Monday to protest against “corruption and misrule of Congress government and its failure to take up drought relief and development works.”
The State government should first waive crop loans as done by the previous BJP government and then approach the Centre for relief.
