Alleging that BBMP contractors had complained to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that those in his party’s government in Karnataka were demanding 65% commission for clearing their pending bills, BJP leader and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday demanded that Mr. Gandhi intervene and ensure justice if he is against corruption.
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The allegation came even as K.T. Manjunath, president, BBMP Working Contractors’ Association, said they had neither complained nor posted on X asking Mr. Gandhi regarding delay in payment of pending bills in the civic body, from the Association. “We are neither aware nor responsible if some individual contractor has done so,” he said.
However, sticking to the allegation, Mr. Bommai told a press conference in Bengaluru after hearing the grievances of the BBMP Contractors’ Association who submitted a memorandum to him about pending bills, that Mr. Gandhi should intervene in the matter within 24 hours if had zero tolerance for corruption.
Mr. Bommai took exception to the silence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with respect to the contractors getting upset over non-payment of their pending bills and maintained that such a silence was being interpreted as endorsing the alleged demand for bribe. He also wondered why the transfer notifications of government employees were being frequently modified by the Chief Minister’s office. Training his guns on Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, he remarked that Mr. Shivakumar had become a “super chief minister” in the Congress government.