Janata Dal (Secular) youth wing State vice-president Krishna Reddy on Saturday released a purported audio clip where two BJP leaders are being heard discussing the irregularities to the sum of ₹167 crore in the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) funds.
Mr. Reddy, addressing presspersons in Kalaburagi, claimed that the conversation in the purported clip was between Sedam MLA and chairman of the Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation Rajkumar Patil Telkur and BJP MLC Raghunath Rao Malkapure. He said that the audio was recorded on March 19, 2021, the day the KKRDB Board meeting was scheduled.
In the conversation, Mr. Telkur is mentioning that the funds of various projects have been diverted as there was no district in-charge Minister. He also asked Mr. Malkapure to object to the decision of calling a board meeting of the KKRDB without prior notice of the agenda to the board members.
Mr. Telkur further added that equipment available for ₹2,000 have been bought for ₹8,000 and tables available at ₹10,000 have been quoted at ₹50,000. In reply, Mr. Malkapure said as per the recommendations of the D.M. Nanjundappa Committee, the allocation made for each district in Kalyana Karnataka region cannot be diverted at any cost.
During the conversation, Mr. Telkur can be heard saying that he had spoken to a few board members, including Bandeppa Kashempur, Subhash Guttedar, Basavaraj Mattimod, Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, and Venkatreddy Mudnal, regarding issues which they are going to raise during the meeting and asked Mr. Malkapure to support them.
In the 4.32-minute clip, neither Mr. Telkur nor Mr. Malkapure mentioned KKRDB or its chairman Dattatreya Patil Revoor.
Mr. Reddy demanded the resignation of Mr. Revoor from the post of KKRDB chairman and urged the State government to conduct an inquiry into an alleged audio clip.
He also claimed that a few people tried to steal his mobile phones. His luggage bag containing important documents was robbed from the train while travelling from Bengaluru to Kalaburagi on May 26, Mr. Reddy stated, showing a complaint lodged with Raichur Railway Police station.
He also perceived a threat to his life from Mr. Telkur and Mr. Revoor. “There is a threat to my life and Mr. Telkur and Mr. Revoor should be held responsible, if anything untoward happens.”
