BENGALURU: With opposition parties demanding the resignation of Home Minister Araga Jnanendra over the PSI recruitment scam, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday came out in defence of his cabinet colleague.
“The Home Minister has discharged his duties honestly and efficiently. It is only because of him that the irregularities have been exposed,” he told reporters adding that the Congress has no moral right to demand the Home Minister’s resignation. Bommai also blamed the previous Congress government, saying that the PSI question paper had leaked during that regime.
“The case was registered and a senior police officer was found to be the accused. But nothing happened later. Forget arresting, they (Congress) did not even bother to question the officer,’’ he claimed. The state government has given a free hand to the officers to conduct a thorough investigation. “We have zero tolerance for such irregularities. We are working with an objective to cleanse the system, whether it is the top officers or any junior officials. We will go to the roots to resolve the issue,” he said.
Meanwhile, Araga Jnanendra hit back at the Congress, saying, “There is no question of protecting anyone involved in the case. The Opposition Congress leaders are not cooperating with the government’s efforts, but are instead seeking our resignation.”Stating that the government has shown commitment to fight corruption by arresting an ADGP-rank officer, he said the people involved in the case, however influential they may be, will be prosecuted if there is evidence.