Contractors hurl bribery charges at Siddaramaiah govt as Congress prepares for local body polls

The 40% commission in award of government contracts, a campaign on which the Congress rode to power two years ago, has come back to haunt the Siddaramaiah regime. The Karnataka State Contractors Association (KSCA) has made serious corruption allegations against the Congress regime as the party prepares for the upcoming local body elections.

The allegation badly bruised the Basavaraj Bommai government, delivering a major blow to the BJP, and helping the Congress regain power with a majority. The contractors’ body has now said the size of commission demanded for payments has doubled under the Congress regime, leaving the Siddaramaiah government in a tight spot.

BJP state president BY Vijayendra on Sunday said contractors must pay 50% of contract value in the form of bribe to the government to get their bills cleared. “For every ?100 meant for development, ?50 is looted by Ministers. With only half the funds left - and even that uncertain of release - contractors are pushed to cut corners, use substandard material, and compromise on quality. No wonder our roads are crumbling and our infrastructure collapsing. Once again, it proves that the Only thing Congress does with efficiency is corruption...,” Vijayendra said in a post on X.


The Association, in a signed letter, reminded Siddaramaiah of his promise while in the Opposition that if he was voted to power, the government would not demand any commission to clear payments to contractors. But the commission has doubled now, the organization said, giving an issue to the Opposition parties to beat the Congress with. “…the government is receiving 40% to 80% commission through contractors,” the BJP said in a post on X.

The letter highlighted that the government institutions like Nirmiti Kendra and Karnataka rural infrastructure development corporation were awarding projects to followers of MLAs and party leaders who in turn were sub-contracting them to contractors in return for a cut. As projects went through a web of bribes, contractors were finding it difficult to maintain quality, the letter said.

A similar charge landed the Bommai regime in a spot of bother in 2021 when the same body wrote to prime minister Narendra Modi complaining of the commission, they had to pay to get their bills cleared.

The situation has only worsened between then and now, according to the organization. The government, the organisation said, owed them Rs 32,000 crore in pending dues, but whenever the officials cleared a small part of it, it was only after payment of huge bribes, it said. The rampant corruption has led to a sharp fall in the standards of projects they were executing, letter added.

During the fiercely contested assembly elections in May 2023, the Congress had cornered the BJP, accusing it of taking 40% bribe in every government contract. A contractor suicide, blaming his personal problems on bribes, only exacerbated matters for the Bommai government. In the elections, the BJP won 65 seats while the Congress won a resounding majority with 135 seats in the 224-member assembly.