Valmiki Corp scam: BJP leaders trying to lay siege to 'Vidhana Soudha' detained in Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): BJP leaders, including the party's Karnataka unit President B Y Vijayendra, were detained when they tried to lay siege to 'Vidhana Soudha' here on Thursday demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the alleged scam in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd.
Holding placards, banners and posters, the BJP legislators and workers raised slogans against the Congress government charging it with indulging in large-scale corruption.
The party leaders alleged that the "anti-Dalit and anti-tribal face" of the Congress has been exposed after the scam came to light.
"The Chief Minister has lost the moral right to continue in office. Our protest will continue till he resigns," Vijayendra told reporters as he was taken into preventive custody near 'Vidhana Soudha', the seat of state legislature and secretariat, where the monsoon session was underway.
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He also referred to the statement of the Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the scam, on Wednesday that approximately Rs 90 crore was diverted from the state-run Corporation to 18 fake accounts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
"A substantial amount of funds were utilised to procure a significant quantity of liquor just prior to the general elections. Additionally, high-end vehicles, including a Lamborghini, were purchased using proceeds of the scam," the federal probe agency said.
The ED arrested former Minister B Nagendra last week in connection with the scam.
During search operations at the premises of Nagendra and Basanagouda Daddal, the Chairperson of the Corporation and Raichur Rural Congress MLA, the ED said it recovered incriminating documents linking them to the handling of diverted funds during the recent elections.
Additionally, associates closely connected to Nagendra were implicated in the fund diversion and cash management, the agency said.
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Why remove Mahatma Gandhi's name, asks Priyanka on move to replace MGNREGA
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday slammed the government over its move to change the name of MGNREGA, asking what is the government's intention behind removing the name of Mahatma Gandhi who is the tallest leader not just in India but in the world.
A bill to repeal the MGNREGA and bring a new law for rural employment -- Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 -- is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha. According to a copy of the bill, it seeks to introduce the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, in Parliament and repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of 2005.
Asked about the government's move, Priyanka Gandhi said, "Whenever the name of a scheme is changed there are so many changes that have to be made in offices, stationery... for which money is spent. So, what is the benefit, why it is being done?"
"Why is Mahatma Gandhi's name being removed. Mahatma Gandhi is considered the tallest leader not just in the country but in the world, so removing his name, I really don't understand what is the objective? What is their intention?" she told reporters in Parliament House complex.
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"Even when we are debating it is on other issues not the real issues of the people. Time is being wasted, money is being wasted, they are disrupting themselves," Priyanka Gandhi added.
The bill aims at establishing a "rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047", by providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
The bill has been listed in the Lok Sabha in the supplementary list of business issued on Monday.
Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in the statement of purpose of the Bill, said MGNREGA has provided guaranteed wage-employment to rural households over the past 20 years.
However, "further strengthening has become necessary in view of the significant socio-economic transformation witnessed in the rural landscape driven by widespread coverage of the social security interventions and saturation-oriented implementation of major government schemes", he said.
#WATCH | दिल्ली: कांग्रेस सांसद प्रियंका गांधी वाड्रा ने MGNREGA का नाम बदले जाने पर कहा, "...वे महात्मा गांधी का नाम क्यों हटा रहे हैं? वे इस देश के, इतिहास के और दुनिया के सबसे बड़े नेता माने जाते हैं। मुझे समझ नहीं आ रहा इसके पीछे इनकी(सरकार की) मंशा क्या है? सदन चल नहीं रहा।… pic.twitter.com/gp5wNLllDu
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) December 15, 2025
