Bengaluru, Jul 13 (IANS): Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has said that the leaders of the ruling Congress in Karnataka are preventing the release of the details of a pen drive with a minister's conversation. “There is no urgency from my side to release the pen drive details. The Congress leaders are preventing the release,” he stated.
Speaking to reporters in the Vidhana Soudha on the rate card of bribes for posts and pen drive, Kumaraswamy said that, “don’t worry, I am going to get many more things. A section of Congress leaders are waiting for a wicket to fall to get out of their party.” This is not a normal pen drive, he added.
Kumaraswamy had announced that he had got a pen drive containing the conversation of a prominent minister of CM Siddaramaiah’s cabinet negotiating a bribe for a posting last week. “I am not going to run away. There is no question of hit and run.
“They (Congress ministers) have created dens for the transfer mafia. The transfer rate card provided is a continuation of their own announcement,” he said. The Congress had been campaigning against the BJP while being in the opposition in the cash for transfer scam. “I have presented real facts before the House. If they have courage, let them take action. The information for the latest rate card is provided by the officers,” Kumaraswamy stated.
“When I have raised the serious issue of corruption, the issue is being given a caste colour. Does corruption have a caste?” Kumaraswamy questioned.
Kumaraswamy on Wednesday presented the rates fixed for various posts in the department of agriculture by the Congress government. He maintained that Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore is fixed for the post of Joint Director in the headquarters of the agriculture department. Rs 15 lakh to Rs 75 lakh for Joint Director in the districts; Rs 10 to Rs 30 lakh for Deputy Directors in the districts; Rs 5 to Rs 15 lakh for Assistant Director; Rs 3 to Rs 10 lakh for Assistant Director in the districts; Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for postings at Raitha Sampark centres.
The statements of Kumaraswamy have triggered a debate in political circles and also indicated infighting in the Congress. By stating that a section of the Congress leaders are awaiting the fall of a big leader, Kumaraswamy has again put the spotlight on the rivalry between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Dy CM D.K. Shivakumar.
Continuing the attack on the Congress government, the JD (S) on its social media handle stated that the rate card (bribes for posts) has shocked the government employees and officers. The people of the state are already suffering due to the price rise of tomatoes, vegetables, gas and rations. The rate card is the Congress party’s sixth guarantee.
“On the one hand the Congress is providing freebies, on the other hand looting is ensured. Is this the Karnataka model of development? The government has not completed two months, the transfer business has reached its peak. The people are misguided through the guarantee schemes and the coffers of leaders are being filled,” the JD (S) maintained.
"The cash for posting seems to be the official economic policy. If this is the situation during the honeymoon period, what would be the situation during the full moon time?" the JD (S) questioned.