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Following a political furore on the issue, Eshwarappa, against whom police have registered a case of abetment to suicide, resigned as the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Friday night.
Shivakumar alleged that corruption in Karnataka has reached the ”highest level” and Congress will launch a movement across the state to reach out to the people at the village and taluk level to expose the ”corruption” under the BJP regime.
He also said that the party wants the high court to intervene in the case and ensure that justice is delivered to the family of the deceased contractor Santosh Patil, who prior to his death had made serious charges of corruption against Eshwarappa.
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Shivakumar also alleged that the saffron party is raising its communal agenda only to divert the attention of the people from corruption, due to which the people are ”fed up”.
”Resignation of Eshwarappa alone is not enough. A case of corruption has to be registered against Eshwarappa. The Congress will not rest till a case of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act is registered,” he told PTI. Asked if his party will move court if that does not happen, the Congress state chief said, ”We will have no option, but to take it up in some way.” He said though Congress will not directly move court, it will exert pressure to ensure the judiciary takes up the issue.
Sivakumar asserted that the corruption angle is a part of the complaint and the FIR, but it has not been taken into account, adding that a case of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act has not been registered against Eshwarappa.
”Karnataka has become the capital of corruption in the country under the BJP. There is corruption at all levels starting from the villages to municipalities to the state government led by the BJP,” he alleged, adding that no work is being done without money changing hands. The Contractors Association also claimed that 50 percent commission is being sought by the BJP, he said.
”Corruption is highest in the country in Karnataka. Congress will be travelling to all the districts and constituencies in the coming days. We have already started visiting districts in order to expose the BJP,” he said, adding that the party will place everything before the public.
”The Karnataka Congress will do everything to expose the BJP corruption at the lowest level. We will launch a major offensive against the ruling BJP dispensation to help expose them before the people of the state,” Shivakumar said.
Alleging that Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai is protecting Eshwarappa, he asked, ”How will a fair investigation take place, when the CM is saying Eshwarappa has done no wrong?” The chief minister is a party to the corruption by Eshwarappa, he alleged.
”We want that there should be a high court-monitored probe against Eshwarappa. We want that the FIR must be changed to PC Act,” the PCC chief said, adding that the corruption angle is part of the FIR and the complaint made by the family of the deceased contractor Santosh Patil.
Claiming that the people of Karnataka are already fed up with the corruption by the BJP, he alleged that corruption under the BJP has reached the panchayat and village level and people are being affected.
”That is why the BJP is raising communal issues and are trying to create differences between Hindus and Muslims. The BJP is trying to polarise society and the entire system,” the Karnataka Congress chief claimed.
Asked about factionalism within the state unit, Shivakumar said it is only a media creation at the behest of the ruling dispensation.
”There is no factionalism in the Congress. This is just a media creation at the behest of the BJP. The BJP is trying to show us as a divided lot to hide its own failures,” he said.
Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP and is trying to highlight the issue of corruption against it to make it their major poll plank in the 2023 assembly polls.