Lokayukta raids in K'taka uncover Rs 22.5 crore in disproportionate assets of eight govt officers
Bengaluru: Lokayukta searches on the premises of eight government officers across the state on reportedly found disproportionate assets worth a staggering Rs 22.5 crore. The simultaneous raids were conducted at the residences, offices, and residences of the relatives of the eight government officers in more than 37 places across seven districts.
The highest-value assets were found with Prakash V, a retired Divisional Mechanical Engineer from KSRTC, Ramanagara, as reported by Deccan Herald on Wednesday. Officials found that Prakash owned eight plots, six houses and six acres of agricultural land valued at Rs 3.97 crore. His movable assets, including Rs 15 lakh in cash, were valued at Rs 28.17 lakh, the Lokayukta said in a statement.
During the searches at four places linked to Kashinath Buddappa Bhajantri, Assistant Engineer, Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation, Hirekerur, officials found that the suspected government official disposed around Rs 9 lakh in cash, out of the washroom window, which was later recovered. Officials found that Bhajantri possessed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income to the tune of Rs 3.20 crore, the report added.
The others raided were Vittal Shivappa Dhavaleshwar, Village Administrative Officer, Revenue Department, Nippani Taluk, Belagavi (total assets: Rs 1.08 crore); Venkatesh S. Majumdar, Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Commercial Tax Department, Bengaluru (Rs 2.21 crore); Kamal Raj, Assistant Director, Commerce and Industrial Department, District Industrial Centre, Industrial Area, Davangere (Rs 1.99 crore); Raveendra Kumar, Deputy Director (Deputy Tahsildar), Training Centre, Bidar (Rs 4.22 crore); Nagesh D, Public Relations Officer, Mysuru City Corporation (Rs 2.72 crore), and Govindappa Hanumanthappa Bhajantri, Assistant Secretary, KIADB, Dharwad (Rs 2.79 crore).
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NDA's win in Bihar Assembly bypolls a matter of concern: Prashant Kishor
Patna, Nov 23: Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Saturday dubbed as "a matter of concern" the NDA's win in assembly by-polls in Bihar despite "failure" of the BJP-led coalition to end the state's chronic backwardness during it's decades-long rule.
Talking to reporters here shortly after the results were out, Kishor also drew succour from the fact that his fledgling Jan Suraaj won "10 per cent" of the total votes polled in four seats, but rubbished the claim that it had played a role in the RJD's defeat in three of these.
"RJD is a 30-year-old party. The son of its state president finished third. Can Jan Suraaj be faulted for that? In Belaganj all Muslim votes went to the JD(U) candidate. In Imamganj, the Jan Suraaj cut into NDA votes. Else, the victory margin of (Union minister) Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha would have been bigger", asserted Kishor.
Notably, Imamganj, a reserved seat, was retained by Manjhi's daughter-in-law Deepa, who defeated the RJD candidate by a thin margin of less than 6,000 votes. Jan Suraaj candidate Jitendra Paswan finished third, polling more than 37,000 votes.
When pointed out that in three of the four seats, candidates of Jan Suraaj had polled less than one-sixth of the total votes and ran the risk of losing their deposits, Kishor shot back "That should not be a matter of concern (chinta ki baat). If there is a matter of concern, it is the ability of the NDA to make a clean sweep despite having ruled Bihar for so long and "failed" to end the state's backwardness".
The IPAC founder, who had a brief stint in the JD(U), insisted that the party's supremo Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, was a "spent force" and its candidate, former MLC Manorama Devi, had won on her own steam.
"We have always said that our fight is with NDA, not with RJD despite its claim of being the largest party in Bihar.....(but) Nitish Kumar is no factor. His party polled just about 11 per cent of total votes", said Kishor.
About his own party's inability to make a mark, Kishor said "We have secured 10 per cent votes..... in seats where Jan Suraaj had no presence since these areas were yet to be covered by my padyatra. Also, please note that we got our poll symbol after filing of nomination papers was over".
He also maintained that the Jan Suraaj will go solo in the assembly polls due next year when it will contest "all 243 seats".
"We were initially written off but by garnering about 10 per cent votes, in a state known to vote along predictable caste lines, we have proved a point. In the next few months we shall be strengthening the organization to ensure that vote share of the Jan Suraaj improves", he said.
