JOIN USState BJP president B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday demanded that Small Scale Industries Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi be removed from the council of ministers immediately in the wake of I-T raids at his residence and office in Belagavi recently.
Unaccounted for cash to the tune of Rs 162 crore was seized during the raids, but the chief minister is shamelessly protecting the minister, Yeddyurappa charged at a press conference.
In another raid by the I-T department recently, a large amount of unaccounted for money and properties from Congress MLA M T B Nagaraj were seized. But no action was taken against the MLA. Besides, the chief minister is protecting former minister Shivaraj Tangadagi, who was reportedly involved in a Rs 42-crore fake bill scam in Kushtagi in Koppal district, he charged.
He also charged the government with conniving with illegal sand mafia and causing loss of revenue to the state exchequer.
A checkpost near Attibele near Bengaluru was closed recently, resulting in some 800 lorries illegally transporting manufactured sand into the state from Tamil Nadu every day. The state is losing royalty to the tune of Rs 6 lakh every day because of this move, he added.