Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, in an advertisement in Kannada newspapers on the occasion of Ganesh festival, reiterated what he had promised on the floor of the House — that he would not indulge in “vendetta politics”. But the Opposition has been arguing that the string of investigations his government has ordered, and most recently, the arrest of the former Minister D.K. Shivakumar, are “selective and targeted”.

The BJP government has handed over probes into alleged illegal phone tapping and IMA scams to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and has set up special committees to probe alleged irregularities in civic works in Bengaluru over the past six years under TenderSURE and white-topping of roads.

‘CM unaware?’

The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, speaking to mediapersons, took objection to the advertisement and the Chief Minister’s claims. “The Chief Minister claims that he did not know of the arrest. Can we believe this?” he asked. He claimed that Enforcement Directorate officials had said they were letting Mr. Shivakumar go after questioning, but changed their mind and arrested him five minutes later. “Doesn’t the Chief Minister know who made the call asking officers to arrest him?” he questioned.

While it is believed that Mr. Kumaraswamy is likely face trouble in both phone-tapping and IMA scam probes, former Ministers R. Roshan Baig and B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan have already been questioned by agencies in the IMA scam case. IMA scam may land more politicians and bureaucrats in Police and Revenue departments in trouble, sources said. The former Police Commissioner Alok Kumar has been questioned by the CBI in the phone-tapping case and the probe is expected to draw in more police officers into its net.

Probes into alleged irregularities in the civic works in the city are speculated to spell trouble to multiple Congress politicians who held charge of Bengaluru development over the past six years. Mr. Kumaraswamy, however, expressed confidence that no harm would come to him as he had done no wrong, and termed the probes a “misuse of agencies” by the BJP.

‘No adjustment politics’

A senior BJP ideologue claimed that the IMA scam would most likely drag several politicians and bureaucrats into trouble.

“The BJP under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah does not indulge in ‘adjustment politics’ of yore. Fight against corruption is a major plank in our campaign and we are delivering on it. We have been elected to disrupt the status quo and not to further precipitate it,” he said, and added that the BJP believes that perusing corruption cases against these leaders “will only bolster the party’s prospects as it exposes the Opposition for what it is”.

Sources in the BJP said though the Chief Minister was not very keen in handing over the two probes to the CBI for a combination of reasons, he was left with little choice as the party’s central leadership had reportedly taken personal interest and got them transferred to the central agency. This has made several politicians and bureaucrats in the State jittery.