Ruckus in Karnataka Assembly over Valmiki Corp. scam; CM says strict action against culprits

BENGALURU: Karnataka Legislative Assembly witnessed ruckus on Friday over the alleged financial irregularities in a state-run corporation, with opposition BJP and JD(S) staging a protest against the government, accusing it of "loot" and demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Amid the opposition's continued sloganeering from the well of the House, Siddaramaiah sought to defend himself and his government, while accepting that the scam had indeed taken place. He assured that strict action would be taken against the culprits involved.

He tried to turn the tables on the opposition listing out the alleged scams during their tenure, especially the BJP, calling the opposition party "Pitamaha of corruption". He asserted that his government will get them probed and ensure that they "pay for it", by sending "those who committed wrong to jail."

Questioning the demand for his resignation, he asked if Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would take responsibility for irregularities that have happened in a nationalised bank, and quit as banks come under the Finance Ministry.

"Allegations are being made to bring a bad name to the Chief Minister and the government. It is not possible. They are alleging that ST community funds have been looted -- it is not Rs 187.33 crore (scam), that much amount has come to the Union Bank of India, in that Rs 89.63 crore has gone to Andhra (Pradesh) and Telangana, efforts are on to recover them," Siddaramaiah said.

He said: "Whoever is the culprit, whoever the thieves are, whoever the looters are, we will ensure that they are punished. There is no question of protecting anyone. There is no compromise with corruption. Our fight against corruption will continue."

"To hide their mistakes, the theft, loot and corruption that happened during their tenure, the opposition is making allegations against my government," he said.

Opposition BJP and JD(S) members shouted slogans accusing the Chief Minister and his government of "theft", "loot", "injustice to SC/ST", and demanding Siddaramaiah's resignation.

Claiming that the opposition is unable to digest that he will reveal the facts behind the allegations and seven crore people of the state will know the truth, the Chief Minister said: "So they are making noise coming into the well of the House. People have decided you are thieves and have made you sit there (in the opposition)."

The Congress is in power with 136 MLAs and won't bow down or fear the opposition's false allegations, he said.

The illegal money transfer issue, involving Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd, came to the fore, after its accounts superintendent, Chandrasekharan P, died by suicide on May 26, leaving behind a note.

The note revealed the unauthorised transfer of Rs 187 crore belonging to the Corporation from its bank account, and from that, Rs 88.62 crore was illegally moved to various accounts allegedly belonging to "well-known" IT companies and a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank among others.

Following allegations against him in connection with the scam, Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister B Nagendra tendered his resignation on June 6. He is currently under the custody of the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the scam.

Raising questions about the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into the matter, Siddaramaiah asked: "Is their probe in accordance with law?"

"Let them do it in accordance with law, we are not scared of ED and BJP," he asserted, as he alleged that the federal probe agency was being used against opposition parties by the BJP-led government at the Centre.

The ED had earlier this month carried out searches at several places, including at the premises of Nagendra, and ruling Congress MLA Basanagouda Daddal, who is Chairman of the Corporation.

As Siddaramaiah was replying to the discussion on Valmiki Corporation scam, Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said "the names of Nagendra and Daddal are missing from the FIR (by SIT), through a bogus probe the government is trying to cover up the scam."

Noting that there are three complaints in connection with the case, Siddaramaiah said one is being looked into by the CBI (on Bank's complaint); the other two complaints -- including one filed by Chandrasekharan's wife -- are being probed by the SIT.

"The opposition does not have courage to listen to my reply, as they fear that I will bring out the scams during their period. Because they had looted during their period and the then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai had not resigned, no action was taken against any minister," he said.

"For the sake of publicity, for politics, based on the instructions they have got from the Centre, on the instructions of the RSS and their party, they are making allegations for the sake of publicity. They are here with malice," he said.

Ashoka and other opposition members shouted "Bhagavad Gita from demon's mouth", "Down down anti Dalit and corrupt government", "Down down the government and CM that looted Rs 187 crore".

The CM said he has never said that there was no misappropriation of funds in the Valmiki Corporation, asserting that no one will be protected.