BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy accused the State Government of being corrupt, and said that the Lokayukta officials catching the Excise Joint Commissioner was proof. Discussing the issue at the Council under Rule 330 on Tuesday, Narayanaswamy said, “Karnataka Wine Merchants’ Association President Guru Swamy has said that he has given Rs 6,000 crore to the government”
Narayanaswamy questioned who all were part of this corruption, and whether the CM was also part of this. Congress members took objection and said the LoP was making baseless allegations against the chief minister.
“A government official getting caught while accepting a bribe is strong evidence of corruption. Association says they have given Rs 6,000 crore bribe. Further, Excise Minister R B Thimmapur has stated that corruption isn’t restricted to his excise department but is there in others too,” Narayanaswamy said.
Members of the opposition recalled the instance where Siddaramaiah, when he was the LoP, demanded the resignation of K S Eshwarappa after allegations of his involvement in the suicide of a contractor. They sought Timmapur’s resignation and an inquiry be set up to probe the alleged corruption in excise department.
BJP, JDS demand resignation of Timmapur
The Karnataka Legislative Council saw uproarious scenes with opposition BJP and JDS leaders demanding the resignation of Excise Minister RB Timmapur, alleging corruption and urging the government to appoint a sitting judge to inquire into the irregularities. The uproar finally forced the Upper House to be adjourned for the day, a little past 7pm.
Earlier, the House witnessed passionate debates by Congress leaders, especially MLA AS Ponnanna and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil on the Governor not reading the speech and insulting the House and people. Opposition leaders Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, Bhojegowda, Ravi Kumar and CT Ravi countered them, saying they cannot attack and criticise the Governor.
Narayanaswamy cited an article about corruption to the tune of Rs 6000 crore in the Excise department, and spoke about irregularities in the awarding of licences under different categories, especially CL7, and the routine bribes brazenly demanded by Excise officials. He asked who among the higher-ups had shared the corruption loot. He asked about the trap where a senior officer was caught accepting Rs 25 lakh, which was only the first instalment of the bribe. He claimed the loot was shared among higher-ups too.
Earlier, when Basavaraj Horatti was in the chair and MK Pranesh took the seat, there were arguments about rules and allocation of time between the Congress and BJP, which irritated Horatti with non-stop squabbling over House rules on the Governor and excise.