Ex-CM seeks Siddaramaiah's resignation over Valmiki scam

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with the multi-crore scam in Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, senior BJP leader D V Sadananda Gowda on Thursday urged him to resign on the occasion of Valmiki Jayanti. The former Chief Minister also claimed that certain recent developments show that Siddaramaiah is likely to resign soon. ".....I urge CM Siddaramaiah to resign today because it is a good day. They (ruling Congress) have swallowed a huge amount of money belonging to Valmiki Corporation, and today is Valmiki Jayanti. So, I urge him to retire from politics by resigning from the chief ministerial post today. it will certainly provide him with some relief," Gowda told reporters here. Claiming that Siddaramaiah has accepted the guilt, by admitting that there was misappropriation to the tune of about Rs 89 crore in the Corporation, Gowda, citing the CM recently offering prayers to Goddesses and Savadatti Yellamma and Chamundeshwari of Mysuru, said: "he seemed as though he was expressing his guilt and was seeking excuse from the god with a request to bring him out of the scandals." The illegal money transfer scam came to the fore, after its accounts superintendent, Chandrasekharan P, died by suicide on May 26, leaving behind a note. After the scam came to light, Congress MLA B Nagendra resigned as the Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister in June. The ED had in July arrested Nagendra under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) .

He was released on bail on Wednesday. The ED had said that its investigation revealed that under the influence of Nagendra, the account of the corporation was moved to the MG Road Branch (of bank) without any proper authorisation, where Rs 187 crore, including Rs. 43.33 crore from the State Treasury under the 'Ganga Kalyana Scheme', were deposited without following proper procedures.