Irregularity and scam are not the same: Siddaramaiah

Siddaramaiah was responding to Sudhakar's comment on the CAG report that stated there were irregularities worth Rs 35K cr during Cong govt

Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah Tuesday said "irregularity" and "scam" were two different things, even as he dared Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to order a judicial inquiry into allegations of corruption against both Congress and BJP governments.

Siddaramaiah was responding to Health Minister K Sudhakar who quoted a Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) report to say that there were irregularities worth Rs 35,000 crore when the Congress was in power between 2013 and 2018.

"An irregularity is not a scam. Sudhakar is dumb and he’ll say things. The CAG report, which I’ve not seen, speaks of irregularity. It’s different from a scam,” Siddaramaiah argued. “Sudhakar was with (Congress) for five years. If there were irregularities when we were in power, did he point it out then? Why is he raising it now? Does it have any value?”

Siddaramaiah slammed Sudhakar for deserting Congress. "Congress gave him (political) birth in 2013. For the sake of money and power, he went to BJP. Will people forgive you?"

Hitting back at Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for calling Congress the "Gangotri of corruption", Siddaramaiah pointed out that his party was never accused of taking 40% cuts.

"On what basis is the CM speaking? Was Congress ever accused of taking 40% commission by the contractors association? Did the association write a letter to the prime minister when we were in power between 2013 and 2018?" he asked rhetorically.

Bommai should have called out the Congress' corruption when he was in the Opposition, Siddaramaiah said. "What was Bommai doing then? He's speaking now, after we started making accusations over 40% commission, corruption in procurement of Covid-19 medicines, gloves, masks, beds and ventilators," he said, adding that the BJP is "scared of losing."

The Congress leader dared Bommai for an investigation under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. "Order an inquiry on allegations against Congress and BJP. If I'm wrong, I'll face punishment," Siddaramaiah said.

Bommai has charged that the Congress government closed Lokayukta and formed the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to "hide its scams". Siddaramaiah refuted this. "There's ACB in BJP-ruled states as well. We didn't scrap the Lokayukta. We just formed ACB. And, BJP had promised in its manifesto to scrap ACB after coming to power. Then didn't do that. It was the High Court that scrapped ACB," he said.