BJP demands excise minister's resignation after officer caught taking Rs 25 lakh bribe
Bengaluru (PTI): Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka on Sunday demanded that the state Excise Minister R B Timmapur should resign in the wake of the arrest of a Deputy Commissioner of the Excise Department, Jagadeesh Naik, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh.
Along with him, two other officials, Superintendent of Excise Thammanna K M and Excise Constable Lakkappa Gani, were also caught. According to Lokayukta officials, they have been accused of demanding Rs 80 lakh to issue CL-7 (Hotels & Boarding Houses) and micro brewery licence.
"Since Timmapur is the Excise Minister, we demand his resignation. If he doesn't step down, then we will be compelled to assume that this is an 80 per cent commission government," Ashoka said in a press conference.
He alleged that crores of rupees are being collected as bribes in the Excise Department in the matter of granting licences.
He said a recent incident in which Lokayukta officials caught an officer red-handed while taking a bribe for a single licence was proof of this corruption.
Ashoka alleged that since the excise department comes under the finance ministry, and the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who holds the finance portfolio, is directly responsible for the corruption.
Ashoka also played an audio alleging that the Excise Deputy Commissioner Naik was in conversation with the excise minister.
"The Congress kept asking for evidence. There is audio saying bribes must be paid to the minister. It says the minister's money has to be given, money has to go to four tables in the Excise Department, everyone has to be given a share, and it has to reach the minister. It even says that if money is paid quickly, licences will be given on the spot. Is this a government?" he asked.
Ashoka further alleged that drug and liquor abuse have increased in the State and that the police department is steeped in corruption.
Speaking on the occasion, the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy alleged that corruption worth Rs 3,542 crore has taken place in the excise department.
"If the CM does not remove Timmapur, it will clearly indicate the CM's role as well. We will fight this politically and legally," he warned and said that the BJP will launch an agitation.
The Minister dismissed the charges.
Speaking to PTI, he said why he should be held accountable for someone misusing his name.
"If someone has done something wrong and misused my name, then we will suspend him. What can I do if the Excise DC misuses my name? Why should I resign for it?" Timmapur said.
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
