By nixing steel bridge, govt has admitted to taking bribe: BSY

BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on Friday said that by scrapping the steel flyover project in Bengaluru, the Congress government has admitted that kickbacks were received for the project.

Yeddyurappa told reporters here that scrapping of the controversial infrastructure project also proves the veracity of the entries in the Congress MLC K Govindaraj’s diary, which was seized by Income Tax officials from the bedroom of his house. He charged that Rs 65 crore was paid to the family members of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the steel flyover project. “Siddaramaiah should retire from politics if the allegations of bribe are proved or else I will retire from politics,” he challenged.

The former chief minister said that an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will prove that Rs 450 crore to Rs 600 crore of taxpayers’ money was 'sent' to the Congress high command in Delhi. He demanded that the state government hand over the case to CBI if it is so sure of being innocent. “As the scam spreads across states, the Union government can also ask the CBI to investigate the issue,” he said.

Yeddyurappa said the ‘Sahara papers’ and ‘Govindaraj diary’ cannot be compared, as in the Sahara case it is just a piece of paper, while Govindaraj himself has accepted that the diary is his. The diary will stand the scrutiny of law, he added.

Cong MLAS to join BJP?

Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa said that a minister and more than 10 Congress MLAs are knocking on the doors of the BJP. “We will welcome them only if they resign three to four months before the Assembly elections,” he said and added that the ticket to such leaders to contest the Assembly polls will be considered only after consulting with the party’s core committee.

BJP spreading lies about graft in govt: CM
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said the BJP is “spreading lies” about corruption in his government and he will not respond to the charges. Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru that the BJP is repeatedly going to town spreading lies about the contents of the diary reportedly belonging to Congress MLC K Govindaraj.

The BJP on Thursday had claimed that the state government had scrapped the controversial steel flyover project following the exposure of the contents of the diary that purportedly has entries on kickbacks received by Siddaramaiah for sanctioning the project.

“The BJP leaders have no documents to prove their charges. They are telling lies and I will not respond to them,” Siddaramaih said.