Charges and counter-charges of corruption between political parties took centre stage on Friday, with State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa vowing to “expose scams” and put Chief Minister Siddaramaiah behind bars if the BJP comes to power in the 2018 Assembly polls.
This comes a day after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) filed two FIRs against Mr. Yeddyurappa in connection with alleged illegal land denotification cases. The ACB issued him summons on Friday.
Mr. Yeddyurappa’s outburst against the Congress came at the launch of Statewide protests demanding removal of Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Small Scale Industries Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who faced Income Tax raids recently. During a recent visit to the State, BJP national president Amit Shah had said that the next polls in Karnataka will be fought on an anti-corruption plank.
Addressing the protest rally at Freedom Park, Mr. Yeddyurappa chided Mr. Siddaramaiah for not dropping both the “corrupt” Ministers because of the fear of losing power. He went on to say that he would order a probe into Mr. Siddaramaiah’s “corrupt dealings” if voted to lead the next government.
Stating that the party would hold protests across the State demanding resignation of the “tainted” Ministers, Mr. Yeddyurappa asserted that there was no need for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Shah to visit Karnataka to defeat the Congress in the State. “People will show the door to Mr. Siddaramaiah as they are witness to the most corrupt government,” he said. He accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of “vendetta politics” and said he would not be cowed down by cases filed against him.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar recalled that Mr. Siddaramaiah was initially reluctant to induct Mr. Shivakumar into his Cabinet because of charges of corruption. Mr. Shettar asked Mr. Siddaramaiah to drop Mr. Shivakumar from the Cabinet as “charges against him is proved”. State BJP in charge Muralidhara Rao and MP Shobha Karandlaje accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of misusing the ACB.
BJP leaders, including Mr. Yeddyurappa, Union Minister Ananth Kumar, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, K.S. Eshwarappa, R. Ashok, and Jagadish Shettar were detained by the police when they reached Vidhana Soudha. They were released later. Traffic was disrupted in the Central Business District owing to the protest rally.
