The "40-percent commission" allegation against the BJP was the biggest weapon for the Congress during the Karnataka Assembly elections.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah orders for a judicial inquiry against the 40 percent commission allegations on the previous BJP government on Friday. (supplied)
Karnataka is buzzing with hectic political activities, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah taking decisive steps to address allegations of corruption and malfeasance against the previous BJP government.
He ordered on Friday, 11 August, a comprehensive inquiry to investigate the “40-percent commission” allegations against the previous BJP government.
Concurrently, he assured the contractors of expediting the process towards clearing pending bills, signalling a determined effort to uphold the values of good governance.
Interestingly, the government initially said this would be a judicial inquiry, but later confirmed that it was only an inquiry.
Karnataka State Contractors Association President Kempanna continued to stand by his “40-percent commission” allegations against the Basavaraj Bommai government.
He has also reiterated that he would submit all the evidence related to “commission” allegations before the committee in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the BJP leaders demanded that the Siddaramaiah government launch an investigation against the “15-percent commission” allegations levelled by contractors against the ruling Congress government in the state.
The “40-percent commission” allegation against the BJP government was the biggest weapon for the Congress in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections in May. It played a key role in the BJP’s stumbling at the hustings.
The allegation, levelled by contractors of government projects, was that the BJP government demanded 40 percent of the remuneration that they were to receive for their works.
After three months of coming to power, the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government ordered an inquiry on the “40-percent commission” allegations against the previous BJP government on Friday.
Siddaramaiah made this announcement on his official account on X, formerly Twitter. In a series of posts, the chief minister said that the one-person panel would have retired Justice B Verappa.
Siddaramaiah tweeted: “In the run-up to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly polls, we promised that if the Congress came to power, we would investigate the corruption and scams of the BJP government. The voters kept their trust in our words and voted against the BJP government’s corruption, commission, scams, and tax looting, and elected our candidates in 135 constituencies. It paved the way to establish a stable and honest government.”
ನಾವು ವಿಧಾನಸಭಾ ಚುನಾವಣೆಯ ಪೂರ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಪಕ್ಷ ಅಧಿಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದರೆ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಭ್ರಷ್ಟಾಚಾರ ಹಗರಣಗಳನ್ನು ತನಿಖೆ ಮಾಡಿಸುವ ಭರವಸೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದೆವು. ನಾಡಿನ ಮತದಾರರು ನಮ್ಮ ಮಾತಿನ ಮೇಲೆ ನಂಬಿಕೆಯಿಟ್ಟು ಬಿಜೆಪಿಯ ಭ್ರಷ್ಟಾಚಾರ, ಕಮಿಷನ್ ಹಾವಳಿ, ತೆರಿಗೆ ಲೂಟಿಯ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಮತ ಚಲಾಯಿಸಿ 135 ಸ್ಥಾನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಅಭ್ಯರ್ಥಿಗಳನ್ನು…
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 11, 2023
He continued: “Upholding our commitment, under the headship of retired Justice B Veerappa, we have initiated an inquiry to investigate 40% commission by the BJP government.”
He also said: “In the BJP government’s regime, instead of completing the works fully, bills were claimed for old projects, where they have completed only half work.”
Siddaramaiah also hinted that the government would release the pending bills of contractors only after the committee submitted a detailed report.
“The Justice B Veerappa-led committee is investigating all these corruption allegations. It is not appropriate to release the pending bill even before the detailed investigation report is submitted,” he noted.
Taking a swipe at the BJP, Siddaramaiah said: “The allegations levelled by former minister R Ashok about 15 percent commission is far from the truth. But it is good that he has reduced the commission rate from 40 percent to 15 percent.”
He added: “The statements of the BJP former minister show that in his conscious mind, the Congress government is better than the BJP government. We accept the allegations against us as a challenge and prove that our government is not just better but the best, transparent, and people-oriented government to the people of the state.”
After Bommai sought Rahul Gandhi’s intervention to clear the pending bills of the contractors, Siddaramaiah hit back at him, saying that the former chief minister’s statements indicated that he had lost faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance.
Siddaramaiah said: “Former chief minister Bommai said that the state government was not paying the pending bills of the contractors, so Rahul Gandhi (Wayanad MP) should intervene and release the bill money. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who enjoys the authority of giving instructions and directives to the state government. The fact that Bommai is urging Rahul Gandhi to perform tasks that should be done by Modi indicates that Bommai does not have belief in Modi’s efficiency.”
Stating that he had directed officials to release the pending bills, Siddaramaiah said: “I have already held talks with small and medium-scale contractors and the BBMP contractors’ association regarding settling the pending bill amounts.”
He also said: “I have already directed to release the bills for Proof of Works (POW). As soon as these common procedures related to the pending work bills are completed, the bill amounts will be released.”
A section of contractors was making false allegations against the Congress government, Siddaramaiah said.
“A few opportunistic contractors are falsely accusing the state government with malicious intent. The clarification given by the members of Karnataka Small and Medium-Scale Contractors and BBMP contractors’ associations reveals their perspective on the issue,” he claimed.
“We are not the ones who are behind commission; we are exposing the corrupt individuals who are behind commission scams. Do we need any further evidence beyond this to prove our stance?”
Karnataka State Contractors Association President D Kempanna said that he would provide all the evidence on the “40-percent commission” allegations against the BJP government to the probe committee.
Kempanna told reporters on Friday: “We have accused that corruption is happening at a rate of 40 percent. We have evidence with us. I will go to the committee and provide evidence.”
He added: “We made sufficient efforts to meet former CM Bommai. However, he did not grant us time. He took the letter we had brought and put it in his pocket.”
He also said: “He did not engage in conversation with us. He only released the amount only to those contractors he needed. Yet, we still hold respect for him.”
He continued: “Our situation is now like falling from a cliff into fire. Give us our payment and Contractor Bhagya for us. The government is providing schemes to everyone. The government must give us Bhagays for the works we have carried out.”
“The government has not released the payment even after three months. We will write a letter to the chief minister. We haven’t given a deadline, but they must release the payment for us now,” demanded the state contractors’ association president.
Kempanna also said: “We have not made any commission allegations against the government. Some amount has been released as a partial payment of ₹100 crore, which is insufficient. We have requested Siddaramaiah about this. When we met him, the chief minister asked how many months the bill is pending, and we said that the bills are due for the last three years.”
He continued: “Siddaramaiah replied that it had been merely three months since he had come to the helm, and we were sitting on his neck. We informed him that the contractors’ situation had worsened and we were left with no option than committing suicide.”
Meanwhile, BBMP Contractors’ Working Association president Manjunath levelled alleged that many contractors were being asked for 10-15 percent commission on behalf of Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar for the release of pending payments.
Manjunath added, “The association has received representations from numerous contractors complaining of the illegal and arbitrary stand of the BBMP in refusing to release payments.”
He also said: “We have also been informed by some of the contractors that a commission is being demanded on behalf of the minister for Bengaluru development for the release of payments against bills that are certified and approved for payment.”
Admitting that he has also received numerous complaints from the contractors about demands for up to 15 percent commission, Karnataka State Contractors’ Association President D Kempanna told South First, “It has come to my notice that a chief engineer in the BBMP is demanding commission on behalf of the deputy chief minister.”
He added: “In some cases, central engineers are volunteering to negotiate commissions on behalf of the ministers. It is a serious allegation. The government must thoroughly investigate and punish the chief engineer.”
Kempanna also said that he would bring this to the notice of the government.
Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, whose government was accused of “40-percent commission” by the contractors’ association, said: “They are trying to divert attention from the main problems of this government.”
He told reporters: “The truth is that ₹650 crore released in our regime has been withheld. Why have they withheld this amount? The amount was released for the works done in our tenure.”
The BJP leader added: “We released grants in January 2023 and for the months of February, March and April, the amount has been released in May. They should review all the works and those that have been cleared should be paid. Instead of clearing pending bills, they are indulging in some other work.”
He further said: “It is not me making commission allegations against the government, but rather the contractors themselves. The government must clear the bills of those contractors who have done the work. Withholding the bills will lead to people doubting the government. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar must clear the air.”
On Kempanna’s allegations, Bommai said: “Kempanna has given a clean chit to the government. It is one of the members of the contractor’s association who has alleged that commission has been demanded by ministers in this government.”
He added: “The contractors themselves said that conversations of 15-percent and 7-percent commission were taking place at the Shangri-La Hotel on Thursday. Today, they took a U-turn. Kempanna should only answer this: Why did they take a U-turn? Is there any pressure on them?”
Meanwhile, former minister and BJP leader Ashwath Naryan told reporters: “Let them investigate the 40-percent commission allegations. Being a responsible government, they should also launch a probe into the 15-percent commission allegations as well.”
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