Karnataka Governor seeks report from Government on bribery charges against CM

Under pressure from the Opposition Congress, Karnataka Governor T N Chaturvedi has sought a report from the coalition Government on the charges of bribery levelled against Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and two of his cabinet colleagues by the suspended BJP legislator Janardhan Reddy.

According to a Raj Bhavan communiqué, the Governor has asked Kumaraswamy to send a “factual report and his comments” on the charges levelled against him.

The Governor’s action comes in the wake a memorandum submitted to him by the Congress party on Thursday seeking the dismissal of the JD (S)-BJP coalition Government in Karnataka and the institution of a CBI probe into the allegation that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was involved in the collection of bribe amounting to Rs 1.5 billion from mine owners in Bellary district.

The Governor has also forwarded a copy of the memorandum submitted by the Congress party to the Chief Minister while seeking a factual report and his comments on the matter, the Raj Bhavan communiqué added. Karnataka’s Chief Secretary B K Das is expected to send a report to the Governor soon.

Meanwhile, the coalition Government has decided to slap a criminal defamation case against Janardhan Reddy for accusing the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues of collecting a bribe of Rs 1.5 billion from the mine owners in Bellary district.

Even as the coalition Government is expected to take a decision on the nature of probe into the bribery charges against the Chief Minister at a Cabinet meeting scheduled late on Friday, a section of BJP has opposed the “hasty” action taken against its legislator Janardhan Reddy.

Though the party is yet to serve a notice of suspension on Reddy, a section of the party leadership has complained against the action taken against its legislator for exposing corruption. BJP’s Central leaders Venkaiah Naidu and Taverchand Gehlot are expected to arrive in Bangalore to set in motion a damage control exercise.

In Bellary, Janardhan Reddy repeated his bribery charge and termed the Chief Minister and party’s Ministers as “criminals”. He has also threatened to file a defamation suit against the Chief Minister for calling him a person, who has lost “mental balance”.

Janardhan Reddy, who is yet to receive the suspension notice, received the full support of his partymen in his home-district. The party’s Bellary district office-bearers have decided to stand by him and oppose his suspension from the party.