From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Jul 19: Affirming complete faith in the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation and asked the opposition BJP leaders if their party’s previous chief ministers B S Yediyurappa or Basavaraj Bommai had resigned or Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched any probe in the “loot” of APMC Revolving Fund or in the Bhovi Development Corporation funds.

Addressing a news conference in Vidhana Soudha on Friday, July 20 after tabling his detailed reply on the Valmiki Corporation scam in the State Legislature, the chief minister pointedly asked the BJP opposition leader R Ashok and state party chief B Y Vijayendra as to why the ED did not initiate any suo motu probe during the corruption scandals when BJP was ruling the state.

Siddaramaiah said the BJP leader Gulihatti Shekhar had levelled the allegations over the APMC Revolving Fund scam and the loot the Bhovi Development Corporation funds when BJP was in power.

He made it clear that there is no question of his resigning over the scam and asked the BJP leaders if the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is in charge of the nationalised banks, should resign because the officers of Union Bank of India were involved in the illegal transfer of funds following CBI and ED probes.

The chief minister said the State Government had taken concrete measures to ensure that all the funds the State Development Coporatioons and Boards must be mandatorily deposited in the State Treasury to bring transparency and the Finance Department is strictly monitoring the same.

Siddaramaiah attacked the BJP for its protests and agitations over the Valmiki Corporation scam is “politically motivated” with the sole objective of tarnishing his image and projecting the ruling Congress party as anti-Dalit when it was the Congress which had implemented far-reaching reforms for the empowerment of women and development of the Dalits and oppressed sections of society.

The chief minister claimed that the Congress government had entrusted the investigation into the Valmiki Corporation scam on the day the Accounts Superintendent Chandrashekhar committed suicide based on the complaint filed by the wife of the deceased officer. The SIT has started the investigation May 31 after registering the case.

The CBI had taken up investigation into the scam after the Union Bank of India officer Mahesh lodged a complaint and the ED instituted suo motu case.

The SIT formed by the Congress government has already recovered Rs 34 crore cash and another Rs 46 crore transferred to different accounts by the alleged culprits had been frozen. As many as 12 persons have been arrested so far.

“We are not claiming that there is nothing illegal in the deal,” he said asserting that the government is committed to punish the guilty after the investigation is completed.

The chief minister said Rs 89.63 crore funds of the Valmiki Corporation had been illegally transferred to different accounts from the Union Bank of India. “As the Union Bank of India is a nationalised bank and comes under the purview of the Union Finance Ministry, the CBI had stepped in and conducting investigations,” he said adding the Scheduled Caste Development minister B Nagendra had voluntarily resigned following the scam.