BJP cries foul over Covid scam FIR

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

The principal Opposition BJP cried foul over the registration of the initial First Information Report (FIR) in the alleged Covid scam that took place under the previous government during the pandemic. However, it is to be noted that the FIR was registered at the Vidhana Soudha police station against “unknown public representatives, government officers and others” apart from two officers and as many private firms. The charges refer to the alleged Covid scam of 2020 when the BJP State government under Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and B Sriramulu as Health Minister are said to CMhave purchased medical items like Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks, oxygen cylinders and pharmaceutical drugs at exorbitant prices, costing massive losses to the state exchequer.

The allegation here is that there was a quid pro quo in which members of the State government were paid massive bribes by the relevant companies. PPE kits, for instance, were sourced from China and Hong Kong. The FIR is based on a report by retired Justice John Michael D'Cunha on the alleged scam. Moreover, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is also due to be formed to probe this particular case. Speaking to mediapersons in Bengaluru , Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly R Ashoka alleged that Congress was trying to distract from graft allegations against itself in the form of the Valmiki Corporation illegal money transfer scam and the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) illegal site allotment scam.

“This is politics of vendetta and nothing else. It may be the targeting of Yediyurappa with a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) or the Covid case, it is the Congress trying to recover from their political loss and blaming the BJP,” Ashoka said. However, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao justified the FIR as a necessity to punish those who made away with public money. “It is necessary for action to be taken on the basis of the Justice Cunha report. His observations note that corruption has taken place on a massive scale. Government funds have been squandered on a large scale. In many cases, high sums have been paid to buy things.

In some cases, orders have been placed with bogus companies. In others, there have been lapses in procedures and there are sundry issues. We have to act against these things as per the law. On that basis, an FIR has been registered by the Medical Education Department,” he said, adding that the Home Department will take a call on the handing over of the case to an SIT after it is formed.