Karnataka Congress govt stop payments for orders issued during BJP rule: Officials | Bengaluru

The newly elected Congress-led Karnataka government has decided not to release funds or stop payments for any work order given by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state, said officials in the know of the development. The freeze on payment will include orders given in any department, including boards and corporations.

Officials said orders on the same will be issued soon and work on any project that has not begun will be stopped immediately. “All projects will be reviewed before further process as per instruction,” said a senior official who didn’t want to be named.

The Congress in April had approached the Election Commission (EC) seeking scrutiny of all tenders and contracts issued by the BJP-led Karnataka government and the party-led central government for work in the state just before the announcement of polls.

In a memorandum, the party asked the Commission to scrutinise “all actions of the government, particularly, the tenders and contracts issued within 45 days to three months before the date of the election”.

“This is more so where the sole purpose of the tenders and contracts is to issue hugely inflated estimates, without appropriate assessment of cost of work or the need for works by the sanctioning authority for which no justification is available on government file,” said the memorandum.

The step also comes as newly elected cabinet minister MB Patil said that all scandals and scams committed during the tenure of the BJP government in Karnataka will be investigated.

Speaking to reporters, Patil said the Congress government will investigate the scandal of ministers seeking 40% commission to clear projects. He further stated that including the Bitcoin scandal, PSI scam and misappropriations in government departments.

“Not only Bitcoin, PSI scandals, all the cases in connection with irrigation, PWD, Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be given attention. They will be verified on a case-to-case basis. The estimations have been escalated. In place of ₹100 crore, they have spent ₹120 to ₹150 crore,” he alleged.

“During the tenure of BJP, serious allegations surfaced and scandals were reported. Many of them have not been investigated appropriately. If the investigation is conducted, the case has not been taken to the logical end. The newly-elected Congress government will look into all the allegations and scandals and order re-investigation,” Patil said.

Reacting to the statement of MB Patil, senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa said that it is natural for MB Patil to come out with such a statement. “We don’t care about this. Let them investigate if there is any scandal. Let the guilty be punished,” he said.