BJP, Congress face off again over alleged Covid-19 corruption

The BJP and the Congress traded charges again on Thursday in connection with the allegations of corruption in the procurement of Covid-19 equipment and supplies.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa fielded no less than five ministers, the Pancha Pandavas, as they called themselves, to issue a point-by-point rebuttal of the corruption charges levelled by Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, who has been doggedly pursuing the matter.

On Thursday, Siddaramaiah released documents comprising statistics to support his claims. His documents suggest that Karnataka procured equipment at prices way higher than the market rates during the pandemic.

'Congress shaming itself'

Reacting to the claims, the BJP government said the Congress had “publicly shamed” itself by making baseless allegations during the pandemic.

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Siddaramaiah said the total expenditure of the government was Rs 4,167 crore of which at least Rs 2,000 crore was “pocketed” by ministers and officials.

“The Centre procured 50,000 ventilators at Rs 4 lakh per unit. Tamil Nadu procured 100 ventilators at Rs 4.78 lakh apiece. Why did Karnataka buy ventilators at rates varying between Rs 5.60 lakh and Rs 18.20 lakh per unit?” Siddaramaiah said, quoting data he claimed to have received from Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Jawaid Akhtar.

“Doesn’t this stink of corruption?” he asked.

He further charged that the government procured Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits at Rs 2,117 whereas their market price was just Rs 330.

“I strongly demand, on behalf of the people of Karnataka, a judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge,” Siddaramaiah said. “Congress will continue to cooperate with the government in saving people’s lives. We won’t cooperate with the looting of money.”

BJP counter-attack

The BJP fielded Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar in its riposte to the allegations.

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“The overall expenditure of the government is Rs 2,118 crore, with Rs 1,611 crore going for Covid relief measures and Rs 506 crore for purchase of medical equipment,” Bommai said, refuting Siddaramaiah’s basic premise.

Apparently, in January 2019 when the Congress-JD(S) coalition was in power, 46 ventilators were procured at a cost of Rs 21.73 lakh per unit. “There was no health crisis then. Yet, they bought them at that price. But even amid this crisis, we bought ventilators at a lower price,” Ashoka said.

Sudhakar refuted the claim that his department had spent Rs 815 crore.

“Someone who has presented over a dozen budgets should know the difference between a proposal and actual spend. There are proposals worth Rs 815 crore to upgrade hospital infrastructure, but till date we have spent only Rs 33 crore,” he said.

“(Siddaramaiah) should be patting our back because we procured ventilators from a top firm such as Draeger at such a reasonable cost.”

According to Narayan, Tamil Nadu paid Rs 4.76 lakh for a ventilator that was to be used in an ambulance. “They don’t even know what they’re talking about.”