BENGALURU: The political slugfest over the Upa Lokayukta’s remarks on 63% corruption in the state continued for the second day on Friday. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Upa Lokayukta Justice B Veerappa was citing the Transparency International India report submitted in November 2019 when the BJP was in power. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka, hit back, saying that although the report was released in 2019, the survey was conducted in 2018, when Siddaramaiah was the CM.
The CM said the BJP was circulating a fake narrative by twisting the Upa Lokayukta’s words. “BJP leaders, in their hurry to attack us, have only exposed their own record. From the 40% commission regime to Covid procurement scams, PSI recruitment scam, irrigation project illegalities, and cases where even their own workers levelled charges - BJP’s corruption track record needs no introduction. Today, they are misquoting an old report to escape present-day accountability,” the Chief Minister said.
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the BJP exposed its own corruption, without even realising it. “Instead of pointing fingers at Karnataka, the BJP must explain why India has fallen to 96th globally in corruption under their rule. We are cleaning up the mess they left behind. BJP should stop lying and start owning its corruption,” he posted on ‘X’.
Ashoka hit back at the CM asking, “How many times will you repeat the same lie, CM Siddaramaiah avare? Yes, the report was released in 2019, but the survey was done for the previous year, 2018, when you were the Chief Minister and your Congress government was looting Karnataka. So the 63% corruption figure you’re shouting about is actually a report card of your own government, not ours.”
Ashoka said after calling it a Lokayukta report on Thursday night, the CM edited his post on ‘X’. “At least the correction shows you realised how badly you had blundered. But now let’s set the facts straight,” he said. The BJP leader asked the CM why his government consistently placed Karnataka at the top of the corruption charts, year after year.
Taking to ‘X’, state BJP president BY Vijayendra said Bengaluru’s auto-meters seem far more consistent and reliable than the Congress government’s ever-changing commission rate, which conveniently fluctuates with the political season.