Congress now at receiving end of contractors’ ire in Karnataka, BJP smells a scam

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has backed Shivakumar and said the government has ordered a probe of the contracts implemented during the BJP tenure and it is necessary to have inputs on the quality of work and status of implementation before releasing payments for the projects.

The allegations against the Congress government emerged for the first time when former Karnataka CM and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said on August 4, “The proposal to check the implementation of old contracts based on 26 checkpoints is an effort by this government to collect commissions of their own. They are demanding 10% for contracts of 2019-’20 and 15% for contracts of 2020-’21 for the release of payments to contractors.”

He added, “Rs 710 crore was released for payments to contractors and one (Congress) MP said that no amount should be released and the release was stopped. Now, they are asking for details of the work done. The commission has gone up from five to 15% for release of funds.”

A section of the Karnataka Contractors Association, meanwhile, wrote to Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot saying Shivakumar was not making payments and that he should swear on his God and say he is not demanding bribes in return for approving the payments. The president of the association, Kempanna, made a public appeal for the release of payments but steered clear of levelling corruption allegations.

The contractors have also approached former CMs B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP, seeking their intervention. They alleged that some bills had been pending for over two years.

Shivakumar has dismissed the allegations saying that he will quit politics if anyone proves he demanded commissions. “There will be no problem with making payments to contractors who have done their work. We know who is behind every one of the contractors. We will not be cowed down by blackmail tactics. I will not respond to any contractors association,” he said on Saturday.

Accusing the BJP of stirring up trouble, he said, “This is being done by Ashok, Ashwathnarayan, Gopalaiah (BJP MLAs in Bengaluru) and others who are big sharks. The BJP contractors and BJP-sponsored contractors are doing this (making allegations of demands for commission). Why did Bommai (former BJP CM) and Ashok (the BJP’s former Bengaluru minister) not clear the bills? Let them answer. Let us ask them first before asking the contractors. Who asked them to pay 10-15% commissions? Did Shivakumar ask them or the CM asked them or some officials? If they mention my name I will quit politics. The BJP leaders have a lot of scams and I will prove their scams. I know what was happening when the BJP was in power. They think we were sleeping. We also know what to do if they act smart. We have not started assigning work then how can there be kickbacks?”

Shivakumar said Kempanna had met him to discuss the release of funds. “The CM has said that we will look at genuine works and decide on payments. We have set up a team of IAS officers to examine the works and investigate. We do not want to harass anyone. We want to be fair,” he said.

Siddaramaiah has backed his deputy and insisted that the work done during the BJP tenure must be audited. “There are allegations that 40% commissions have been taken while awarding these contracts and we want to investigate it. It has to be proven. We have not awarded any contracts so this is about the old contracts given by the BJP government during its tenure,” the CM said on Saturday.

“I have asked them for a speedy investigation and report. There will be no problems for those (contractors) who have done their work honestly. Those who have indulged in corruption and have not done quality work will be in trouble,” he added.

BJP MLAs in Bengaluru who controlled the city during their government’s tenure have dared the Congress to identify those who allegedly received kickbacks from contractors. “If they have guts they must reveal how much kickbacks was collected and by whom in BJP,” said BJP MLA K Gopalaiah. Former Deputy CM C N Ashwathnarayan has accused Shivakumar of attempting to destroy Bengaluru.

Senior Congress MLA from the capital and minister Ramalinga Reddy has said contractors’ bills must be paid to allow them to take up fresh work but they will have to wait till the government audit is over.

History of corruption

In the past, Bengaluru has been witness to how the politician-contractor nexus functions, resulting in losses to the exchequer as huge amounts of payments were paid to contractors without any work being done on the ground.

Between 2008 and 2011, during the BJP’s first tenure in power in Karnataka, Rs 1,539 crore worth of civic work was allocated to three constituencies of its MLAs in Bengaluru — Gandhinagar, Malleswaram, and Rajarajeshwarinagar. Investigations by the Lokayukta and the Criminal Investigation Department of the police subsequently revealed a huge scam where work reported on paper and paid for by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had not translated into work on the ground.

The BBMP scam led to 56 chargesheets being filed against engineers and contractors involved in 81 pieces of dubious civic projects investigated by the CID in the three constituencies. In some places where bills were paid for the asphalting of roads it was found that no asphalting was done, the CID found. The probe was done after the BJP was voted out and the Congress returned to power in 2013.

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