Din in Karnataka Assembly over ST Development Corporation scam

Bengaluru, Jul 18 (PTI) The Karnataka Assembly witnessed uproar on Thursday over the Rs 187 crore scam in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation leading to adjournment of the house.

The opposition BJP trooped into the well of the House expressing their displeasure over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s reply on the adjournment motion moved by Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka.

The saffron party said the Chief Minister’s reply amounted to shielding former Minister B Nagendra, who resigned following the suicide by the accounts superintendent of the Corporation.

In response, Siddaramaiah said the accounts superintendent of the corporation Chandrasekharan P mentioned only three names in his suicide note.

“The death note contained the names of MD J G Padmanabha, Accountant Parashuram Durgannanavar and Chief General Manager (UBI, MG Road) Suchismita Rahul who were responsible for his death,” he told the assembly.

He added that in her complaint, Chandrasekharan’s wife Kavitha too named the three officers.

The Chief Minister also pointed out that two days after the suicide, on May 28, the General Manager of the Valmiki Development Corporation A Rajashekhar lodged a police complaint in Bengaluru, based on which a case was registered.

The complaint was against six people including Union Bank of India officer Manimekhalai, Nitish Rajan, Ramasubramaniam, Sanjay Rudra, Pankaj Dwivedi and Suchismita Rahul, Siddaramaiah told the house.

BJP MLA Arvind Bellad pointed out that the complaint was not against former Tribal Welfare Minister B Nagendra and the chairperson of Valmiki Corporation Basanagouda Daddal and only the bank officials were framed.

To this, Siddaramaiah said the death note had the names of Padmanabha, Durgannanavar and the Chief General Manager of the MG Road branch of UBI Suchismita Rahul, who were responsible for his death.

“We have to consider the death note as truth – this is what Ashoka said,” the Chief Minister reminded the opposition.

When BJP legislator Araga Jnanendra questioned why the Minister’s name was not included when Kavitha had named it, Siddaramaiah said his government will not protect anyone.
“If you are wrong, we will take action against you as well,” the CM said.

However, he reminded the opposition to look at the complaint by Kavitha where only three names were mentioned.

Jnanendra and Bellad told the CM that the suicide note states that the Minister had given oral instruction, but his name was not included in the complaint.

“You said you will not protect anyone, then why are you protecting the (former) minister?”

Jnanendra claimed that Kavitha was forced to give a complaint at 2 am on May 27 and in that she had given the minister’s name. Later, she was forced to lodge another complaint in the morning where the minister’s name was missing, he alleged.

The Chief Minister sought to know whether the BJP leaders disputed the complaint by Kavitha. He accused the BJP of trying to confuse the house.

Vijayapura BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal countered Siddaramaiah by saying that he was misleading the house.

“There is an attempt to cover up the scam and protect the culprits,” he alleged.

Soon, the opposition started sloganeering against the CM and the Congress government.

The BJP MLAs then trooped in the well of the house displaying placards and posters, following which Speaker U T Khader Fareed adjourned the house till Friday morning.
The ED arrested former Minister B Nagendra last week in connection with the scam. He had resigned as minister following the suicide by Chandrasekharan.

During search operations at the premises of Nagandra and Basanagouda Daddal, the Chairperson of the Corporation and Raichur Rural Congress MLA, the ED said it recovered incriminating documents linking them to the handling of diverted funds during the recent elections.

Additionally, associates closely connected to Nagendra were implicated in the fund diversion and cash management, the agency said.

The scam came to light after Chandrasekharan P died by suicide. In the suicide note, Chandrasekharan alleged that there was an illegal transfer of Rs 187 crore belonging to the Corporation.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)