Lokayukta officials raided the residence of BJP MLA Prashant Madal in Bengaluru. , Photo Credit: ANI
heyIn his most recent visit to the election state of Karnataka last Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conspicuously avoided mentioning any issue of corruption. In his address after the inauguration of the Bengaluru-Mysore Expressway, in the southern district of Mandya, the emphasis was on infrastructure and development. The Prime Minister talked about how he was busy “building expressways and making life easier for the poor” while the Congress was busy “digging Modi’s grave”. In the northern district of Dharwad, the same day, he argued that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had “insulted” social reformer Basaveshwara by “raising questions about Indian democracy in London”. Basaveshwara, who is credited with creating a democratic space for dialogue called ‘Anubhav Mantapa’ in the 12th century, is also an icon of the Lingayat community, which has been a strong vote base of the BJP.
This was in stark contrast to Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech on 23 February. In North Karnataka’s Bellary, which earned notoriety for an illegal mining scam during the BJP’s first independent tenure in Karnataka, Mr Shah urged people to “trust the prime minister”. Minister Narendra Modi and BS Yeddyurappa [former Chief Minister] Once. “We [BJP] We will give such a government that within five years Karnataka will be free from corruption and make it the number one state in South India.
Earlier during his visit to Belagavi city in northern Karnataka on February 27, Mr. Modi had said that the Direct Benefit Transfer system has rooted out corruption. In the period between his February and March visits, Karnataka has been hit by another corruption scandal. On 3 March, Prashant Madal, son of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa, was caught red-handed by the Lokayukta, the state’s anti-corruption watchdog, for allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹40 lakh on behalf of his father, who was the Speaker. karnataka soaps and detergents ltd. In subsequent raids, the officials recovered around ₹8 crore in cash. The MLA, who remained out of touch for five days after the incident, appeared after securing interim anticipatory bail from the Karnataka High Court. He received a rousing welcome in his constituency Channagiri in central Karnataka and told reporters that “an average arecanut grower in Channanagiri keeps ₹2.5 crore to ₹3 crore at his residence.”
The episode has deeply embarrassed the BJP, although Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has been arguing that the sequence of events only shows that the Lokayukta, an institution weakened by the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government, has been strengthened by the current BJP government. Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, J.C. Madhuswamy openly admitted that the raids were an embarrassment to the state government.
Allegations of corruption are not new to the ruling party. The most debated among them has been the Karnataka State Contractors Association’s allegation that no contract is awarded and no bill is passed in Karnataka without a “40% commission”. The association had complained to Mr Modi, among others, in July 2021, and has not received any response till date. Although the suicide of a contractor after implicating the then Panchayat Raj minister KS Eshwarappa fueled the issue, the government has sought “proof” of corruption every time the question has been raised. On the other hand, following a defamation suit filed by Horticulture Minister Munirathna, the office bearers of the contractors union were arrested and later released on bail.
The BJP government is responding not by denying every corruption allegation but by saying that it is the Congress which is the “Gangotri of corruption”. But it is currently on the backfoot with the Mandal episode, which the opposition is projecting as evidence of the “40% commission” practice. The drama, the scenes of Lokayukta officials carrying away the sacks of cash and the subsequent shameless justification of the MLA is not easy to erase.
How this plays out in public perception – between now and the time Karnataka goes to polls in May – is hard to predict. Whether the BJP can capitalize on the widespread public fad of “all parties/politicians are the same” on the issue of corruption and divert attention away from other things, a craft the party is quite adept at, remains to be seen.