BJP exposes ‘corruption’ in RDPR dept, questions Priyank Kharge

Bengaluru: BJP state general secretary P Rajeev on Tuesday released documents alleging massive corruption in a gram panchayat (GP) under the Kudachi Assembly constituency, claiming that Rs 17 crore had been misappropriated in just this one GP. 

Highlighting the magnitude of the fraud at a press meet here, Rajeev cautioned that if such irregularities had occurred in just one GP, the overall corruption across the state’s nearly 6,000 GPs could be immense.

He estimated that the misappropriation in the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department under MGNREGS alone could easily amount to thousands of crores of rupees.

Rajeev presented photocopies of documents supporting his claims and detailed irregularities in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

He pointed out that the individuals shown in MGNREGS job cards did not match names of persons receiving payments.

“The person in the photograph is different from the one receiving the payment. In some cases, the same individuals appear under altered names,” he alleged.

Targeting RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge, he said, “What exactly are you doing in your department? What percentage of corruption ends up with you, Priyank Kharge?”

Challenging Kharge’s previous claim of a 40% commission being charged when BJP was in power, Rajeev said, “You have not been able to prove these allegations even to this day. I will provide you records. Do you have the courage to inspect the works I mentioned and explain to people of the state what the reality is?”. 

He said the BJP office had records related to over 1,000 GPs and announced that similar press conferences would be held across districts to release documents to the media.

“With regard to Kudachi, a complaint has already been filed with Lokayukta. But despite personally urging the authorities concerned to take action, nothing has been done. This clearly shows that everyone, from ministers to lower-level officials, is deeply involved in corruption,” he said.

“What exactly are you doing in your department? What percentage of corruption ends up with you Priyank Kharge?

P Rajeev, BJP state general secretary