In next six months, half the BJP leaders in K'taka will be in jail or run for bail: Priyank Kharge
Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Sunday said half of the BJP leaders in the state will either be in jail or running for bail in the next six months as the Congress government will get to the bottom of the corruption cases of the previous BJP government.
Reacting to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot granting permission to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the site allotment scam in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), he said the Congress did not go for a witch-hunt because its first priority was good governance.
"As a government our first priority is to deliver an efficient governance, not witch-hunt. But yes, having said that, there are a lot of discrepancies in the previous government," Kharge told reporters here.
There are more than 35 cases against BJP leaders and in three to four cases, an interim report has been submitted, the Minister said, adding that the state government has constituted a Special Investigation Team of the Criminal Investigation Department.
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"We are looking at these cases closely. We will get to the bottom of those cases. It takes time. There was extreme corruption in the previous government. We are working on it. And let me assure you again that in the next six months half of the BJP leaders will be running for bail or will be in jail," he added.
The Minister said there are umpteen cases where the role of the Governor has been debated, which has been set in stone and will be put forth before the court.
To a question, Kharge said there is no way BJP leaders can take the case against Siddaramaiah to the logical end because they do not have any evidence.
"The only thing they can do is they can keep the case alive by using the Central Bureau of Investigation, Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate, and the Governor himself," he added.
Blaming Gehlot for the political turmoil in the state, Kharge alleged that the Governor was a puppet and not a constitutional head of Karnataka.
"Unfortunately the position (of Governor) has been compromised and he is behaving like a BJP Karyakarta," Kharge alleged.
Replying to a question, he charged that the BJP never came to power through people's mandate but stole it. That was the only way BJP could come to power in Karnataka or elsewhere.
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
