'Are they holy?': Karnataka CM Bommai slams Congress over corruption talk

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday hit back at the Congress for its ‘holier than thou’ stand on corruption, and maintained that the investigation into contractor Santosh Patil’s death will happen as per law.

“The Congress has announced protests. They talk about corruption. Are they clean? Are they holy? Let them first calculate the wealth they hold in their cupboards,” Bommai told reporters.

“They’re looking to set narratives, but it won’t be of any use. People of Karnataka have seen Congress for many years and their scams. We’ll have to place those scams before people. The Time will come,” Bommai said.

Read | Karnataka is India’s corruption capital: Congress

Bommai was upset with the Congress accusing the government of shielding senior BJP lawmaker K S Eshwarappa, who resigned as a minister in connection with Patil’s alleged suicide.

“The suicide allegation is under investigation. The post mortem is done and the forensic report will come. Based on that we will scientifically know what happened,” Bommai said.

Drawing a parallel with the K J George case, Bommai said the BJP had followed the law book better than the Congress.

“In the George case, there was a video accusing him and a death note. But, was he named in the FIR? Wasn’t there a cover-up attempt? The FIR was registered after a court direction. In fact, the family of the deceased had to go to court. But, we’ve registered the FIR based on the complaint,” he said, referring to Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah.

Bommai was referring to the alleged suicide of police officer M K Ganapathy, which forced Congress lawmaker K J George to resign from Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet in 2016.

On the Congress’ demand that Eshwarappa should be booked under the anti-corruption law, Bommai said: “Further sections will be inserted based on what the investigation finds. Let the probe take place.”

He also accused the Congress of being the “prosecutor and judge” in the Patil case. “It won’t work that way. People know of the things that were covered up when (Congress) was in power. So, which section should be invoked when…it’ll happen as per law. We haven’t interfered in any way,” he said.

Bommai rejected the Congress’ allegation that he had given Eshwarappa a clean chit. “There’s law and investigation will happen. The charge sheet will be examined in court,” he said.

Watch latest videos by DH here: