Dalit bodies back Anjaneya, demand probe into cash for contract sting

Dalit organisations on Friday rallied behind Social Welfare Minister H Anjaneya a day after a private Kannada news channel aired a sting operation claiming that the minister's wife had accepted Rs seven lakh bribe for award of a contract.

About a dozen dalit organisations held a meeting at a private hotel and decided to back the minister. The sting operation was a “conspiracy” by the opposition parties to “malign” Anjaneya, a dalit leader. Even the media house that conducted the operation is part of the conspiracy, M Venkataswamy of Samata Sainik Dal told reporters. The dalit organisations urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to back the “maligned” minister and not ask him to resign, failing which a State-wide protest would be staged.

The government should order a probe to bring out the truth. The minister should not be removed from the Cabinet until such time, D G Sagar of Dalit Sangharsha Samiti said.

The BJP mounted an attack on the government and demanded that the chief minister immediately sack the minister. The BJP leaders have also decided to petition Governor Vajubhai Vala on Saturday, for the minister’s ouster. BJP State president Pralhad Joshi will lead the delegation, which will comprise former deputy chief minister R Ashoka and party MLAs from Bengaluru.

Joshi said the party’s SC morcha would hold agitations across the State until Anjaneya is removed from the Cabinet. But the government chose to remain silent on the issue. The chief minister neither ordered a probe nor sought an explanation from his colleague. Anjaneya, however, met both Siddaramaiah and KPCC President G Parameshwara and gave his point of view.

Parameshwara, who is also Home minister, told reporters, “We are yet to receive a report on the issue. Once that is available, the matter will be discussed with the chief minister and with the central leadership and a decision will be taken.”

The government, instead, suspended Deputy Director of Backward Classes Development Department Prabhakar, who was seen in the sting operation. Prabhakar was reportedly heard telling the representatives of TV channel, who approached him posing as businessmen seeking award of a particular contract, to meet the minister's wife to clinch the deal.

Later, Prabhakar takes the representatives to Anjaneya's official residence at Jayamahal, where they meet the minister's wife. The representatives place a black bag on a table. The TV channel claimed that the minister's wife accepted Rs seven lakh in bribe.

Anjaneya said the question of him resigning didn’t arise. “It is neither a fit case nor a scam to resign. The sting operation was conducted by vested interests to finish me off politically. I have not done anything wrong. It is BJP leaders who looted the State. I have directed the Social Welfare department Principal Secretary to conduct a probe into the issue,” he added.