The Karnataka State Contractors’ Association has on the eve of the Assembly elections reminded voters of the headline-hogging “40 per cent commission”, an extraordinary intervention targeting the BJP that is accused of couching its real agenda in a game-changing anti-corruption plank over a decade ago.
The contractors’ association, whose allegation that some BJP ministers were demanding kickbacks to clear bills earned the government the monicker “40 per cent commission sarkara”, said in a letter released on Tuesday: “Democracy works when people cast their vote in accordance with their conscience. Corruption deeply hurts our collective conscience.”
The letter, signed by association president D. Kempanna and general secretary J.M. Ravindra, alleged that the BJP government was deep-rooted in corruption, demanded kickbacks to clear bills from contractors and made pointed reference to the 40 per cent figure.
“Corruption has reached frightening levels in our beloved state. The 40% commission in public projects has already claimed the lives of several contractors; the public too is forced to live with defective, dangerous and life-threatening infrastructure,” the association stated in the letter in English.
Observers in the state could not readily recall any political affiliation or proximity of the association. In fact, many in the state had not heard of the association until it sent a letter earlier to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to control corruption in the state.
Modi has neither replied to the letter nor referred to the charge during his numerous campaign meetings. It was an unusual situation for the Prime Minister who had years ago famously declared “na khaunga na khane dunga (will neither take bribe nor let anyone take it)” and called himself the “chowkidar” who guards public wealth.
From those lofty heights, the BJP is now finding itself battling the ignominious charge from an organisation that was not widely known until recently.
A civil contractor named Santosh Patil ended his life in April 2021 after sending WhatsApp messages to his friends accusing minister K.S. Eshwarappa of demanding 40 per cent kickbacks to clear his bill of Rs 4 crore for road work.
The BJP held prayers at Hanuman temples across Karnataka a day before the state polls to cash in on the Congress’s promise of banning organisations that spread hate and naming of the Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India (PFI) as examples. The BJP handout picture above shows Shobha Karandlaje (extreme left), convener of the BJP’s election management committee, offering prayers at the Sri Prasanna Veeranjaneya Temple in Bangalore’s Mahalakshmi Layout on Tuesday. Sourced by The Telegraph
The ensuing uproar had forced Eshwarappa to resign from the cabinet. While a subsequent police inquiry later gave him a clean chit, he was not reinstated in the cabinet.
Eshwarappa was recently in the news after being denied a ticket to contest the elections. He has, however, been an integral part of the BJP’s campaign, especially after Modi spoke to him over the phone and urged him to continue his party work.
On Tuesday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted a copy of the contractors’ latest letter, reminding the people about the letter the association had earlier sent to the Prime Minister.
“The Karnataka State Contractors Association has written another letter — this time to the voters. PM Modi never replied to their pleas against the BJP’s 40% Commission government. Tomorrow the people of Karnataka will reply for him,” Ramesh said, referring to Wednesday’s election to the 224 Assembly seats in the state.
On the campaign trail, Rahul Gandhi has time and again evoked the “40 per cent commission sarkara” slogan to drive home the message against the BJP government.
