'Covid scam': Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah slams BJP, says decision will be taken after D'Cunha report
Ballari: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah came out heavily against the Bharatiya Janata Party over the alleged 'Covid scam' under the previous Yediyurappa government, claiming that corruption of over Rs 2000 crore took place in the purchase of medical equipment during that period.
He said the cabinet will take a decision on the matter after the Justice John Michael D'Cunha Commission formed to probe the alleged corruption submits its report.
Addressing a press conference in Ballari on Saturday, Siddaramaiah said, "During the Corona period, there was a scam of more than Rs 2,000 crores. There was a lot of corruption in the purchase of healthcare materials, a commission headed by retired Justice Michael Cunha was formed, but the report is not yet in hand. Former CM Yediyurappa is saying all this is a lie. The truth will be revealed. BJP says everything is a lie. Let the report of the commission come, then a decision will be taken in the cabinet."
He added that he had highlighted the issue when he was the Leader of the Opposition during the BJP rule under former CM BS Yediyurappa.
"BJP says everything is a lie. When Yediyurappa was the CM, I mentioned about the Covid scams in the session as the Leader of the Opposition," he said.
Speaking on the issue, Karnataka Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Saturday claimed that the D'Cunha Commission clearly indicts the former CM BS Yediyurappa and his Minister for Health and Family Welfare B Sriramulu. He further alleged that the BJP government was using the Covid crisis to "loot" the state.
"Whatever that has come out in the papers is absolutely true. The D'Cunha Commission clearly indicts the former CM BS Yediyurappa and his Minister for Health and Family Welfare B. Sriramulu. There are many other aspects of the report which I don't want to talk about. I can say whatever is there in the report is true. It clearly shows that during crisis of COVID, the BJP government was using it to loot the state and what allegations we were talking about then has come true," he said.
Rao also dismissed the BJP's claim of 'political vendetta', saying that this is not an overnight decision rather it is a commission's 1500-page long report which took more than 1.5 years to be completed.
"How is it a political vendetta? This is a commission report and it has taken more than 1.5 years to come up with the report. This is not an overnight decision. It has nothing to do with us. It's a serious allegation with clear evidences given of how it was done. He can fight it out legally. My department government is not deciding this. This is done by a very senior former judge of high integrity and he has taken his time and he has looked into so many different aspects. There is a 1500-page report over so many other things of purchase of ventilators, masks, sanitizers, medicines and oxygen cylinder, so many issues are there, this is just one part where former CM and former minister is directly involved," Rao said.
Karnataka Minister said that there is a recommendation of additional prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the alleged Covid scam. He further highlighted that the government lost Rs 14 crores in the alleged Covid scam.
On recommendations of the report, he said, "Yes, there is a recommendation of additional prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The government has suffered a loss of almost Rs 14 crores because of giving it to some Chinese companies at a very high price when locally it was available."
