Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday hit out at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the Valmiki scam, asking him if it was ‘Nyay’ (justice) to siphon off the tribal Valmiki community money. She said, “They (Congress) talk about ‘Nyay’ (justice) during the election campaign. Is this Nyay for the SC/ST communities?” Sitharaman indicated towards Congress' ‘Ab Hoga Nyay’ slogan from the Lok Sabha elections. Congress had used the slogan asserting that it would provide justice to downtrodden communities and enact policies for their upliftment.
Karnataka government is grappling with the accusations of a Rs 187 crore scam in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Corporation, which includes the illegal transfer of Rs 88 crore. The Finance Minister accused Siddaramaiah of concealing facts and trying to pass the blame on to the central government just because bank officials of a nationalised bank were involved.
Siddaramaiah tries to pin blame on centre
Sitharam's comment came as a rebuttal of Siddaramaiah's charge that the union finance minister should be held accountable because banks were involved, Speaking on Siddaramaiah's statement, Sitharaman said, “He can say that because he is used to talking like this, That’s so irresponsive. You have your minister resigned. You have your people saying that the money has been siphoned into private accounts.”
The finance minister asserted that action had already been taken against the conniving bank officials at first and assured that further action would also be taken against them. "No protection will be offered to them for sure", she added. However, she also said, “A minister had to resign under whose oversight? Attempt to deny, attempt to shift blame, or to say that no scandal has taken place. It’s SC/ST money. Whose money was taken away – Valmiki community’s. Is there no sense of outrage?”
Taking charge, FM called out Siddaramaiah on being a finance minister in the state and still being unaware of the illegal transfer of money. She said while the bank is already taking action on officials, how the minister involved in the scam and the chief minister who holds the finance portfolio did not stop the bank from illegally transferring money.
What is the scam?
The scam came to light after the Accounts Superintendent of Valmiki Corporation Chandrasekharan P died by suicide. In his suicide note, he elaborately explained the trail of money and what role the corporation and the bank officials had played in the scam. Valmiki Corporation's Rs 187.33 crore was kept in different accounts, including Rs 40 crore in the government treasury, which was diverted towards the Union Bank of India’s MG Road branch in the scam. Out of a total of Rs 187.33 crore, Rs 88.63 crore was illegally transferred to at least 217 bank accounts in Telangana including that of 18 firms. The ED took the case and arrested former Karnataka minister B Nagendra in connection with the case.
(With PTI Inputs)
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