Karnataka CM must resign to ensure fair investigation in recruitment scam: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, Jul 4: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the BJP of "brazen corruption" in Karnataka and demanded the sacking of Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai to ensure a fair investigation in the police recruitment scam.
The former Congress president also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his repeated assertion of not allowing corruption under his watch - "Na khaoonga, na khane dunga" - and asked why he has not taken any action against Bommai.
"BJP's brazen corruption and 'Sale of Jobs' destroyed the dreams of thousands of youth in Karnataka. The CM, who was then HM, must be sacked for any fair investigation," Gandhi said in a tweet.
"Why hasn't the PM taken any action? Is this the BJP government's 'Sab Khaenge, Sabko Khilaenge' moment," he asked.
Gandhi was referring to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of police sub-inspectors in Karnataka. A senior IPS officer has also been held in the scam and remanded in police custody for 10 days.
Chief Minister Bommai said on Monday the government has given a free hand to the CID which has taken action based on the evidence.
"I had already said that however mighty they are, we will take action. Because of our government, a senior officer was arrested," Bommai told reporters.
Congress general secretary in-charge for Karnataka Randeep Surjewala hit out at Bommai.
"As layers of corruption in PSI scam get unearthed, only two questions need to be answered are - could PSI scam happen without connivance of political masters in BJP? Who was the Home Minister at the time of scam? Answer: Sh. Basavaraj Bommai."
"The responsibility for PSI scam lies at the doorstep of then Home Minister, Sh. Basavaraj Bommai, nothing more - nothing less. Arrest of ADGP is insufficient.
"'A fair investigation can happen only when Sh. Bommai resigns or is sacked! Youth await justice," Surjewala said.
BJP's brazen corruption & “Sale of Jobs” destroyed the dreams of thousands of youth in Karnataka.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 4, 2022
The CM, who was then HM, must be sacked for any fair investigation.
Why hasn't the PM taken ANY ACTION?
Is this the BJP govt’s “Sab Khaenge, Sabko Khilaenge” moment? pic.twitter.com/h8zrwt0ZZj
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PM must explain why his govt scrapped Backward Region Grant Fund: Congress
New Delhi(PTI): The Congress on Friday hit out at the BJP for "scrapping" the Backward Region Grant Fund in 2015 and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain why his government "callously" did away with the "forward-thinking" scheme of the UPA.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Uttar Pradesh.
"Why has the Modi Sarkar scrapped the Backward Regions Grant Fund? Why has the BJP neglected UP's mentha farmers? Why has CM Yogi repeatedly lied about reopening the Budhwal Sugar Mill?" Ramesh said.
Elaborating on what he said were "jumla details", the Congress leader said the Backward Region Grant Fund, aimed at uplifting the backward districts of India, was "callously scrapped" by the Modi government in 2015.
"This forward-thinking scheme was established by the UPA government in 2006 and by 2013, Uttar Pradesh's backward districts had received benefits worth Rs 4000 crore from it," he said.
Ramesh pointed out that in 2015, the Modi government discontinued separate budgetary allocations for this scheme, transferring it to states and slashing annual funding to the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) from Rs 1,006 crore to just Rs 60 crore.
"This came as a significant blow to districts like Fatehpur that received crucial development funds from the scheme. Can the outgoing PM explain why his government so callously scrapped the Backward Region Grant Fund?" Ramesh said in a post on X.
Pointing out that India is the world's largest producer and exporter of mentha oil and UP alone accounts for 90 per cent of India's total production, Ramesh claimed that the mentha oil industry is now reeling from convoluted tax classifications, high GST, and general government neglect.
"Instead of trying to support farmers and processors, the government is trying to extract maximum revenue from the industry. First, the government follows a dual policy for mentha - it is classified as an industrial product under GST, but it is classified as agricultural produce when it comes to the Mandi Tax," he said.
This enables double taxation - GST as an industrial product, Mandi Tax as an agricultural product, Ramesh said.
"Farmers already have to pay the 12% GST on mentha oil sales, and under the new Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM), RCM is levied on purchase. Mentha oil processors are forced to take on the tax liability when purchasing mentha oil from farmers and therefore take on dual tax liability," he said.
Finally, despite mentha being an entirely export-oriented product, the government provides no incentives to boost production, processing, or export, Ramesh claimed.
Why have the outgoing PM and the BJP neglected such an important Indian export, he asked.
"Even after repeated promises from PM Modi and CM Yogi, the Budhwal Sugar Mill remains inactive," he said.
"The PM first promised to revive all of UP's inactive sugar mills in 2014.Then in 2017, before assembly elections, Yogi Adityanath said that the mill would be revived if the BJP formed the government. The BJP won and formed the government but the mill remained inactive," Ramesh said.
Again, in 2022, CM Yogi Adityanath promised to restart the mill and even approved a supplementary budget of Rs 50 crore for the project, he said.
"The government also began to acquire land near the mill, raising hopes of its revival. However, months have now passed and no construction work has been initiated. After all of the BJP's promises, can the outgoing PM explain why the Budhwal Sugar Mill still remains inactive?" Ramesh said and asked the prime minister to break his "silence" on these issues.
