Bengaluru, Feb 13 (DHNS): BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of taking Rs 150 crore as kickback for sanctioning the controversial steel flyover in Bengaluru.

This, according to Yeddyurappa, was part of an effort to mobilise funds for the Congress party. Of the Rs 150 crore, Rs 65 crore has already been paid to the party high command.

Details of the amount paid to party bosses in Delhi are available in a diary maintained by Congress MLC K Govindraj, whose residence was raided by income tax sleuths a few days ago, he told reporters here.

Though Yeddyurappa claimed he got the information from some Congress leaders and ‘honest’ officials, he did not release any document to substantiate his charges. He said he will disclose everything at the appropriate time.

“Let the chief minister and Govindraj deny the charges... The diary makes a mention of the payment. It is part of Rs 1,000 crore he (Siddaramaiah) has paid to the high command... He must resign immediately,” Yeddyurappa said.

The government wants to implement the flyover project between Basaveshwara circle and Hebbal despite public outcry. “Why is it (the government) showing special interest in implementing the project?... It is daylight robbery. It is a classic case of the fence eating the grass. Siddaramaiah is aware of all the details. He should clarify the issue on the floor of the House in the ongoing session,” he said, adding that the BJP will seek to move an adjournment motion in this regard in the Upper House.

BJP committee meeting

Yeddyurappa said the diary cannot be compared with the Sahara-Birla papers involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming it was only a piece of paper. “Govindraj is like a treasurer to Siddaramaiah. He acted like a postman between the chief minister and the party. He has mentioned all the details as to when the money was paid and to whom in the diary... Whatever I am saying, is a fact,” he added.

He also denied charges by Congress leaders that the BJP at the Centre is misusing the income tax department to destabilise the state government. The government will fall on its own because of its misdeeds, Yeddyurappa added.

BSY not in jail due to BJP rule at Centre, says Siddaramaiah

Mysuru/Chamarajanagar, Feb 13: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday slammed state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, who had accused him of paying Rs 1,000 crore to the Congress high command to retain his position, saying the latter had no moral values.

Speaking to reporters at the Mysuru airport, Siddaramaiah said the former chief minister was facing 15 charges and was also imprisoned on corruption charges. After BJP came to power at the Centre, Yeddyurappa managed to get the cases against him quashed.

“He (Yeddyurappa) would have been in jail, if the BJP was not in power,” Siddaramaiah said. Yeddyurappa should make comments with relevant documents to prove the charges, he said, warning that he would launch a legal fight against the former chief minister. Later speaking to mediapersons, the chief minister said he would resign if Yeddyurappa can prove the charges.

Exuding confidence about winning majority of seats in the Assembly elections in 2018, Siddaramaiah said, “I will present seven more budgets, including two of this tenure.” When Congress came to power in the state in 2013, many predicted that the government would not complete five years’ tenure.

Siddaramaiah said the government will regularise the services of civic workers in phases. Their salary would be increased to Rs 14,000 from the existing Rs 7,000, he said.

Speaking to reporters at Halahalli in Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district, Siddaramaiah sought to know why Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not resign when charges were made that notes written on paper said Sahara and Birla paid kickbacks to the prime minister.

Siddaramaiah said the Supreme Court had declared that any information on a white paper could not be accepted as evidence. “I have no connection with the diary that has been recovered from somebody’s house,” he said. “Yeddyurappa has alleged that I have taken a bribe of Rs 150 crore for the construction of a steel bridge in Bengaluru. This is baseless,” he said.