Bengaluru: Former Karnataka minister, B. Sriramulu, on Friday accused the Congress of having a long history of corruption, dating back to the Jeep scandal in 1948 during the tenure of late Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and extending to the alleged Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation case.
Addressing reporters at the BJP state office Jagannatha Bhavan in Bengaluru, Sriramulu challenged Nagendra to swear on the Ramayana written by Maharshi Valmiki that he had not committed any corruption.
He described Pandit Nehru as the “father of corruption” and claimed that the 1948 Jeep scandal marked the beginning of graft under the party.
The 1948 Jeep scandal involved a ₹80 lakh contract signed by V.K. Krishna Menon, then India’s High Commissioner to the UK, with a small foreign firm for military jeeps without standard financial protocols.
“From the Jeep scam to the Valmiki Corporation scam, the Congress has remained involved in corruption,” he alleged.
Sriramulu alleged that the Congress had repeatedly used Dalit leaders to shield itself from criticism. Referring to the alleged Rs 187-crore Valmiki Corporation case, he said B. Nagendra had gone to jail in connection with the case and alleged that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had acknowledged in the Assembly that corruption had taken place.
He, however, alleged that the present government was now claiming that no corruption had occurred.
“The Congress remembers Dalits whenever it commits a wrong and needs someone to shield it,” Sriramulu alleged, citing the Emergency and the role of former Union Minister Jagjivan Ram.
Sriramulu alleged that funds belonging to the Valmiki community, which were meant to implement welfare programmes and secure a better future for children, had been misappropriated.
He alleged that the money was diverted to thousands of bank accounts and used for purposes including the purchase of luxury cars and gold. He further claimed that some of the funds were used during the Lok Sabha elections in Ballari, Koppal, Raichur, Bidar and Kalaburagi.
“Was the money sent to Rahul Gandhi’s Delhi residence?” Sriramulu asked, alleging that the funds had been looted through misuse of official authority.
He said the alleged misuse of funds was an insult to the Valmiki community and claimed that the details of the transactions were part of the records.
Sriramulu demanded that the government drop Nagendra from the Cabinet and appoint another member from the Valmiki community instead.
“If the government genuinely wants to provide justice to the Valmiki community, it should remove Nagendra and appoint someone else from the community as minister. A tainted Nagendra should not continue as a minister,” he said.
Responding to Nagendra’s allegation that BJP leaders were “Manuvadis”, Sriramulu said Nagendra had received support from the same BJP leaders when he was earlier elected as a BJP MLA and when he contested as an independent.
He questioned why Nagendra was now accusing those same people of conspiring against him.
He alleged that Nagendra was attempting to use Valmiki’s name to evade the allegations and said such “drama” should stop.
Referring to the death of corporation employee P. Chandrashekar, whose suicide had triggered the controversy, Sriramulu said the victim’s family was still grieving.
“Our fight will continue. The BJP is protesting both inside and outside the Assembly demanding Nagendra’s resignation. The protest will continue until he resigns,” he said.
BJP state vice-president Narasimha Naik (Raju Gowda), ST Morcha state president Bangaru Hanumantu and former MLA K. Shivana Gowda Naik were present.
