BJP alleges borewell scam in poll-bound Karnataka; Congress refutes allegation

BENGALURU: BJP’s Karnataka unit on Friday released documents alleging a scam related to borewells in the Congress-ruled state, a day ahead of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s election campaign visit to the Bombay-Karnataka region and in the middle of a verbal war over “percentage commission government” between PM Modi and CM Siddaramaiah.

Earlier this month, Modi had said that Siddaramaiah government is seen by some as a “10%” one. On Thursday, the CM said: “The Centre is a 90% commission one.” Gandhi, in recent campaign speeches, has been emphasising that Siddaramaiah has run a scandal-free government and even asked Modi to emulate him.

BJP’s Karnataka unit general secretary and MP Shobha Karandlaje, a close aide of the party’s CM face for the 2018 elections, BS Yeddyurappa, said Siddaramaiah had no right to make any comments on corruption as his government was a “100% commission one...” “I am releasing documents here to show how Siddaramaiah and his right-hand man, social welfare minister H Anjaneya, have looted the money of the AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits),” she said, adding, “We demand a CBI probe into this scam.” Refuting the allegations, Anjaneya said: “BJP does not want us to help the poor and the backward people.


They oppose all efforts that we are making for their uplift.” To the call for a CBI probe, Anjaneya said: “I am open to any kind of inquiry into it.”

The over 100 pages of documents pertained to the digging of borewells for Dalits under the Ganga Kalyana scheme carried out by the social welfare department. The documents show that orders to dig 1,245 borewells at Rs 12.45 crore were issued on a single day, January 22, and the state treasury cleared the bills within six days, on January 28.

“In all, 1,800 borewells have supposedly been dug by 15 companies within six days in just one assembly constituency, Holalkere (which Anjaneya represents in the assembly). The treasury has released Rs 18 crore for the same. Except for a few, none have been dug, so how was the money released?” Karandlaje said. She alleged neither a list of beneficiaries nor locations were identified.

“No tendering was done, but some companies have been given the contract. And if this many borewells have been dug in one area, wouldn’t people be aware of it? The region that the borewells have supposedly been dug in is a water-deficit area. How was permission given for so many?” Anjaneya said the applications had been pending for a while and no borewells had been dug in the last three years.

“Mine is a reserved constituency and I am working hard to help it develop. Money cannot be released unless the beneficiary signs that water has come in his borewell. All these allegations are utter lies.”