Cash seizure leaves BJP in a tight spot

The recovery from the house of the BJP MLA’s son had given much needed ammunition to the opposition

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The arrest of BJP MLA Maadal Virupakshappa’s son by the Lokayukta with a big stash of money has come as a big shock for the ruling BJP ahead of the Assembly polls.

This incident has come at a time when Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has been promising the people zero tolerance to corruption. Besides, on Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Karnataka to launch the Rath Yatra in connection with the coming Assembly polls from Bidar.

In the last few days, the Rath Yatra was launched by BJP National President J.P.Nadda from Male Mahadeshwara Hills and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Belagavi. Shah launched the Rath Yatra from Bidar. The recovery of crores of rupees from the house of the BJP MLA’s son had given much needed ammunition to the opposition Congress Party to deflate the tall claims of the BJP ‘s zero tolerance for corruption.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was in Karnataka in connection with a slew of development programmea, had attacked the Congress Party for practicing corruption in the last sixty years, in a bid to counter the 40 percent corruption charges by the Congress party.

Bommai has been saying that it was the BJP government that re-established the Lokayukta by replacing the Anti-Corruption Bureau set up by the previous Congress Government, without knowing the fact that a big dhamaka would come to the fore so soon during the raid by Lokayukta officials.

To avoid further embarrassment, the CM had to announce that an impartial inquiry will be held to punish the guilty in the case pertaining to seizure of several crores of rupees from the house of Channagiri BJP MLA Maadal Virupakshappa’s son in Bengaluru.