BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka said PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi should be immediately removed from the cabinet until the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation is complete and he comes clean. A minister facing such grave allegations cannot continue to hold office while the investigation is under way, and Karnataka’s public money cannot become anyone’s private fortune abroad, he said.
“The ED’s press brief has put Rahul Gandhi’s ATM Sarkara in Karnataka under a massive cloud of suspicion. PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi now faces explosive allegations of turning money allegedly collected through PWD contracts into overseas mining assets,” he stated.
He said the ED revelations are staggering. The central agency alleged that money collected from contractors was routed through unauthorised channels to acquire assets overseas and nearly 40% of a gold-mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ashoka stated.
He said the raids across 21 locations reportedly resulted in the seizure of over Rs 3.3 crore in unaccounted Indian currency, besides US dollars and Euros valued at around Rs 15 lakh. “From PWD contracts in Karnataka to gold mines in Africa - the trail alleged by the ED raises serious questions,” he stated.