Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol on Friday accused the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association (KSCA) president D Kempanna of being “sponsored by the Congress” and defended his government in the face of the ‘40 per cent commission’ allegation.
At a news conference, Karjol released the details of pending bills cleared by his department to contractors.
He lashed out at Kempanna for making allegations against the government for the past two years.
“Kempanna has accused officials, ministers and MLAs of being corrupt. If so, why hasn’t a single contractor issued public statements? Does that mean contractors are corrupt too?” he asked.
Releasing details of the bills cleared during the tenure of the BJP government, Karjol said that Rs 3,737 crore was pending when the Congress-JD(S) coalition was in power. Currently, Rs 7,128 crore has to be paid to contractors by various Nigams of the department, he said.
He said the total dues paid during the tenure of the Bommai government is Rs 12,572 crore.
The minister said the government has also cleared bills worth Rs 2,158 crore of small contractors and Rs 3,376 crore was released to 1,115 large contractors.
‘Allegations baseless’
Meanwhile, Public Works Minister CC Patil maintained that Kempanna’s allegations are baseless.
“Congress leaders were cornered by various issues. They are making allegations to divert attention,” he said, referring to cases of eggs hurled at Siddaramaiah’s car and complaints that he entered a temple after consuming meat.
“Kempanna has alleged that all 224 legislators are corrupt. This has brought a bad name to the government,” he said.
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