BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka has demanded that the alleged irregularities in recruitment of veterinary officers be investigated by CBI or a sitting High Court judge, as the internal inquiry by KPSC will have no credibility.
Ashoka also demanded that the recruitment of veterinary officers be cancelled. He said Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who led an agitation over NEET irregularities, is silent on the alleged recruitment scam in the Animal Husbandry Department. Even Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge spoke nothing.
Ashoka alleged that the candidates were forced to pay bribes up to Rs 80 lakh to secure jobs. Many job aspirants have lost confidence in KPSC. Alleging that not only middlemen, but also some officials and influential people were involved in the scam, he said when this is the case, it is right to order a probe by an internal committee of the KPSC? This is nothing but an attempt to hush up the case. Ashoka said an audio clip had exposed the scam and alleged that an IAS officer facilitated deals by making appointments.
Meanwhile, Minister for Urban Development Yathindra Siddaramaiah alleged that BJP is attempting to shield the tainted KPSC chairman. Many scams have happened in the recruitments made by the KPSC. Its chairman was appointed during the BJP rule. Alleging that the chairman had submitted false caste and income certificates, Yathindra accused the BJP and RSS of defending him. “BJP leaders criticise the KPSC chairman in public, but their lawyers defend him. This is BJP’s double standards,” he said.
Yathindra said the protests by students forced Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to quit.