Chaluvarayaswamy's appeal comes after seven ADAs recently wrote to Gehlot alleging that the minister was asking them a bribe.
N Chaluvarayaswamy. (Facebook)
With questions of authenticity raised over a purported complaint which was sent to the Governor alleging bribery demand by Karnataka Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, the minister on Wednesday, 9 August, appealed to Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot not to fall prey to “unaccountable fake allegations and fake petitions”.
Chaluvarayaswamy’s appeal came after Gehlot claimed that seven Assistant Directors of Agriculture (ADA) in the Mandya district recently wrote to him alleging that the minister was putting pressure on them through the district’s joint director to pay between ₹6 lakh and ₹8 lakh as bribes.
“They even threatened to commit suicide with their families if such a ‘tradition’ of demanding bribes was not controlled,” Gehlot wrote in his letter to the Karnataka government.
Subsequently, the Governor’s office handed over the letter to Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma seeking an investigation.
The officers cited in the Governor’s letter, however, have denied writing to him or making allegations of corruption against the minister.
Though Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the letter fake, he ordered a CID investigation.
In the letter to the Governor, Chaluvarayaswamy said, “I humbly pray your wisdom mind not to fall prey to such unaccountable fake allegations and fake petitions.”
The minister also appealed to the Governor to order a preliminary probe if such incidents happen in future. If the initial investigation finds the letter to be genuine then an inquiry should be ordered.
“If it is found to be genuine and backed by evidence then that case should be fit for an enquiry or else the Constitutional institutions will be misused by anti-social elements and vested interests easily to bring bad name to the Government, Department and myself,” Chaluvarayaswamy said.
Claiming that the letter was “purely fake”, the minister said he was shocked after he learnt about it. He said a preliminary probe found that the assistant directors have not written such a letter.
According to him, one of the seven assistant directors who allegedly wrote the letter is Ramesh, who is not working in Mandya. The other officials too have said they have not written a letter to the Governor.
“It is purely a handy work of vested interests who are against me. They have falsely used all the means to tarnish my image and misuse the Constitutional institution (office of the Governor).”
He termed as “unfortunate” forwarding the fake letter’ to the Chief Secretary with a covering letter signed by the Under Secretary of the Raj Bhavan.
“In the said letter it was directed to inquire the content of the petition. After that letter, the whole episode has been given different shades and colours in digital and print media to tarnish my image and the state Government,” the minister said.
The Opposition BJP demanded the resignation of the Agriculture Minister over alleged bribery demands from the taluka-level Agriculture Department officials.
Additionally, JD(S) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel criticised the chief minister for defending the Cabinet minister, who has been accused of corruption, and questioned the sanctity of the Raj Bhavan.
Responding to the letter from the Governor’s Secretariat, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the letter fake and hit out at the BJP in his series of tweets.
In one tweet, Siddaramaiah wrote, “It has come out that the letter in circulation in the public domain is fake. The Joint Agriculture Director has already clarified that no officers in the district have written such a letter.”
He added: “I will get the matter investigated; I wonder whether the BJP was behind it. Are you (BJP) the creator of such a fake letter spreading slander against the government or your brother?”
Meanwhile, Agriculture Department Mandya Joint-Director Ashok VS filed a complaint with the Superintendent of Police demanding an investigation into the fake complaint registered with the Governor in the name of AADs.
The Mandya district police have launched a probe based on the complaint.
While Siddaramaiah called it a fake letter and accused the BJP and their “brother” — an apparent reference to HD Kumaraswamy — of “creating it”, he told reporters that he had ordered a probe into the matter.
“With regard to the purported letter written by the agriculture officers against the Agriculture Minister, it has been decided to conduct a CID inquiry,” Siddaramaiah said.
“The chief minister decided to hand over the matter to the CID after discussing with Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara,” said the Chief Minister’s Office in a statement.
(With PTI inputs)
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