BJP sends legal notices to Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar over Covid-19 scam allegation
Bengaluru, July 31: BJP leader N Ravi Kumar sent legal notices to Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah & state Congress chief DK Shivakumar, demanding apologies for alleging "large scale corruption by the state govt in purchase of COVID-19 medical equipment".
The two senior Congress leaders had last week alleged a "Rs 2,000 crore plus" scam in purchase of Covid-19 related equipment and demanded a judicial probe into the matter.
Congress leader Siddaramaiah had accused the Karnataka government of misappropriating funds for purchasing medical equipment for coronavirus treatment in the state, PTI reported. The former chief minister alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government procured medical supplies at prices double the actual market cost.
"The government has purchased corona related equipment worth more than Rs 3,000 crore," Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru. "Prima facie, it looks the government has paid more price than the market price. I demand the government to come out with a white paper regarding the purchase and [the] price paid. I also demand for an inquiry into the purchase."
While, DK Shivakumar accused the BS Yediyurappa-led state government of purchasing medical equipment at a much higher rate than the market price elsewhere. He said that the BJP government in Karnataka is doing corruption in the name of the fight against coronavirus pandemic.
Shivakumar alleged that a ventilator which Tamil Nadu government has purchased at Rs 4.78 lakh, the Karnataka government is procuring the same ventilator for Rs 18.20 lakh per piece. After making the serious allegations, he urged Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to give a clarification on this.
The Karnataka Congress chief took to his official Twitter handle and made the startling claims saying, "'CORONA CORRUPTION' of BJP govt is exposed in this Ventilator purchase scam.
However, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar dismissed the allegations and claimed that all medical purchases for combating the pandemic have been made in the most transparent manner under the supervision of the chief secretary.