Ministerial panel to expedite probe into BJP-era scams to meet this week

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday said the committee of Ministers -- formed to review and coordinate regarding the action to be taken in connection with probe by government and investigating agencies into various scams that have taken place during the previous BJP government -- is likely to meet this week.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday constituted the five member panel headed by Parameshwara, and asked it to complete the task in two months.

The move is said to be aimed at turning the tables on the BJP, which has been targeting the ruling Congress over scams.

"Every case that is pending at various stages... some of them that have been decided and some yet to be decided...to review all of them and to submit a report a Cabinet subcommittee has been formed. Probably this week itself I will call a meeting of the committee," Parameshwara said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said such cases have been identified and their status report will be submitted to the Cabinet.

"We will not go on an individual basis, the number of cases that are pending, we will review. Cases should not catch the dust without action, so we will review them. We were doing it departmentally earlier, now it has been decided at the Cabinet level, so the committee has been formed, it is also to speed up the process," he added.

Parameshwara on Tuesday said during the BJP rule 20-25 scams have taken place, and all of them will be reviewed.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge and Labour Minister Santosh Lad are the members of the committee.

On the BJP dubbing the move as "vendetta politics," the Home Minister said: "Let them say whatever they want, we will have to do our duty."

"As the ruling party we will have more responsibility. They (opposition) have the responsibility to criticise, advise and correct the government if it is going in the wrong direction. As the party in government we have our own responsibility and we are answerable to the people," he added.

As for the Enforcement Directorate in its charge sheet stating that an estimated Rs 20.19 crore of the funds misappropriated from the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd (KMVSTDCL) was diverted to Ballari during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in May, Parameshwara said the probe agency would have come to the conclusion based on the evidences that it has gathered.

On the Congress government maintaining so far that former Minister B Nagendra, who has been named as the prime accused in the ED chargesheet, had no role in the scam, he said: "what we say is not important....we would have said on the prima facie basis, but the detailed probe would bring the truth out. Now the ED has said about his role in the chargesheet, let's see what happens finally."

Asked about "differences" in the findings by ED and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe ordered by the state government, the Minister said: "such things happen several times, the evidence that both agencies got might be different. Different agencies will have different mandates....ultimately both will be considered.