IT raid: BJP demands Krishna Byre Gowda's resignation

The state BJP targeted the ruling coalition government demanding the resignation of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Krishna Byre Gowda soon after Income Tax Department raided a hotel on Friday and recovered Rs 2 crore in cash allegedly slashed by an engineer working in the RDPR department.

“According to our information, this money was being collected for (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi’s election rallies. The raid proves the fact that this is a 20% commission government,” BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa told reporters in the city.

The income tax officials arrested a car driver of engineer Narayanagouda Patil, who escaped during the raid. “The engineer was involved in collecting bribes from contractors who were awarded tenders for works done by the RDPR department,” Yeddyurappa charged.

He recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “rightly” branded the previous government as “10% commission sarkar”, but the present coalition government had “enhanced the rates”.

Later in the day, addressing a press conference, BJP state general secretary N Ravikumar charged that the cash was being brought to Bengaluru at the behest of the RDPR minister.

He sought the intervention of the Election Commission and an enquiry be conducted with a time frame of seven days.

MP seeks probe

Meanwhile, BJP Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in New Delhi that the BJP will approach Election Commission demanding a detailed probe into Rs 2 crore cash seized in a hotel in Bengaluru, which was allegedly stashed by two engineers of RDPR Department.

“This money belongs to Ministers of the Karnataka Government and kept in a hotel for use during Lok Sabha elections," he charged.

The Karnataka government ministers have indulged in corrupt practices and are collecting huge money from contractors to spend during polls, he told reporters.

Alleging that the corruption is in its peak in the state, he said the party will urge the election commission to keep an eye on all financial dealings of Karnataka ministers and their associates.

He also demanded Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Pradesh Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao to clear their stand on the issue and take action against the minister concerned involved in corrupt practices.