Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah said that the final list of Congress candidates for the forthcoming Legislative Assembly elections would be ready by the end of November.
Speaking to reporters here, he said that the process to select probable candidates to contest from Congress has started.
Commenting on the corruption allegations by the BJP government, Siddaramaiah explained that a contractor Basvaraja Amaragola had supplied materials to Chikkamagaluru zilla panchayat, Mudigere and Kaduru, during the Covid crisis, as per the directions of the government.
“But only 20% of the bill amount was released even after two years of supply. He met the chief minister twice and the secretary of the rural development department urging them to release the balance amount. Then, he wrote a letter to the President, alleging that the officials were seeking a 35% to 40% commission and he could not pay it. Ensure that the total bill amount is settled or give permission for mercy killing, he stated in the letter. This is one of the pieces of evidence for 40% commission,” he pointed out.
To a query, Siddaramaiah said, “The BJP is afraid of me. Hence, they are targeting and damaging my reputation. But, I am not afraid. BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel is a joker”.
Continuing his tirade, Siddaramaiah said, “BJP men are shameless and try to defend whatever they do. They have distributed gifts to journalists from the 40% commission amount. The CM says that he does not know anything about it.
Is it possible to believe this? The gifts have been distributed to ensure that the journalists do not write about them. A few have written letters and have returned the gifts. A judicial probe should be conducted. The truth and the source of the gifts should be exposed”.