The Karnataka state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with the alleged Rs 187 crore fraud in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited.
The demand follows the resignation of state Tribal Welfare Minister B Nagendra in connection to the case. The Karnataka government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case. Additionally, the Union Bank of India has handed over the matter to the CBI.
BJP posts affidavit of accused
Taking to social media platform X, the saffron party shared an affidavit of the 'accused number 8', which was submitted in court and demanded CM Siddaramaiah’s resignation. The BJP said, "It is impossible for the SIT to conduct an impartial investigation into this scam involving the Chief Minister, Ministers and MLAs. Therefore, the BJP demands that Siddaramaiah should hand over the case to the CBI and resign and cooperate with the investigation," the party said on 'X'.
In the purported affidavit, the advocate for 'accused number 8' had requested the court to give directions to the investigating officer to collect and preserve the CCTV footages from two locations — near the Higher Education Minister's chamber, Vidhana Soudha May 24 from 10 am to 3 pm and Union Bank of India, MG Road Branch for three months from March 1 to June 1 — along with a mirror view image of the phone seized from the 'accused No.8'.
BJP also demands resignation of Valmiki Corporation chairman
Moreover, the petitioner has also urged the court to direct the authorities to preserve the WhatApp chat between the "Accused No.8 and the contact's name saved as 'Basavanagowda Daddal' along with hash value and 65B Certificate, in the interest of justice and equity."
It is pertinent to note that Basanagouda Daddal is the Congress MLA from Raichur Rural and Chairman of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited (KMVSTDCL). The BJP has also demanded him to step down as Valmiki Corporation chairman. However, Daddal reacted to the demand and said that it was obvious for the opposition to make such demands. He insisted that he was not aware of the scam.
(With PTI Inputs)
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