Bengaluru, Sep 11 (IANS): The BJP launched a fresh attack on the Karnataka government on Wednesday in connection with its alleged involvement in the irregularities in the tribal welfare Board.
The BJP claimed that a substantial portion of the money was used in the Lok Sabha elections and raised questions on the grand old party winning nine seats in the state.
Karnataka BJP President, B Y Vijayendra, taking to his X handle on Wednesday stated, “It has become evident that a substantial portion of the looted money was used in the Lok Sabha elections. The way Congress managed to win nine seats in the state's Lok Sabha elections, particularly the outcome in Bellary, provides the answer.”
“The Congress, which had previously won elections with black money is now stooping to a new low by using looted money from government accounts for elections.
“This proves that the Congress party's leadership has no moral standing left, and they will not hesitate to follow any disgraceful path to win elections,” Vijayendra professed.
“The use of embezzled money from the Maharshi Valmiki Development Corporation for elections is the height of disgrace. If the ED investigation expands further, the faces of the powerful figures backing former minister B Nagendra, who is an accused in this case, will also be revealed. The complete truth of this scam will come to light in the upcoming enquiry,” Vijayendra claimed.
“With the intervention of the ED, one of the most trusted institutions in the country that investigates economic crimes, the source of the embezzled money from the Maharshi Valmiki Development Corporation has been identified, and the real culprits have been unmasked,” Vijayendra said.
“The charge sheet submitted by the state government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) clearly shows that it made futile efforts to protect the real culprits by conducting an exercise akin to ‘digging a mountain and catching a mouse’,” he slammed.
“It is highly shameful that such a scam, involving the looting of government funds on an unprecedented scale, took place under the supervision of the Congress administration in the state. In the future, the Valmiki Tribal Development Corporation scam will stand out as a prime example of the saying ‘the fence itself devours the field,’” Vijayendra professed.
Currently, the ED is conducting a transparent investigation and has taken a significant step in proving the involvement of Congress ministers in this scam, he underlined.
“Even though it is clear that one of the ministers is involved in this scam, why is the Chief Minister and the entire Karnataka government reluctant to take responsibility for it?” Vijayendra questioned.
“It has been proven with evidence that the looted money from the Maharshi Valmiki Development Corporation was used in the election victory of the Congress candidate in the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency,” Vijayendra claimed.
“I demand that the Election Commission intervene immediately and disqualify the sitting Congress MP E Tukaram,” Vijayendra appealed.
The ED on Tuesday submitted the charge sheet to the Special Court for MLAs/MPs here.
Sources said that B Nagendra has been named as the mastermind of the scam by the ED. This contradicts the charge sheet submitted by the SIT under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Karnataka Police which did not mention Nagendra's name.