Kempanna’s U-turn angers Cong, Siddu suspects pact with CM

By NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Taken aback by the volte-face of Karnataka Contractors Association President Kempanna who had earlier accused state government officials of demanding 40 per cent commission for allotment of projects in various departments, leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah claimed that Kempanna had struck a tacit understanding with the government.

The opposition Congress had launched an agitation across the state after the Contractors Association wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding 40 per cent commission in various government departments. Congress leaders took up the issue in the House and outside the House and trained their guns on the BJP government accusing it of corruption in major departments like Water Resources, Health and PWD. The ruling BJP had even accused the Association of working like an agent of the Congress Party.

When the issue reached the BJP high command, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had invited Kempanna and his team for talks on April 25. After the meeting, Kempanna appreciated the CM’s decision to give them a patient hearing besides promising necessary action in this regard. Subsequently, the Association stopped targeting the government much to the dismay of the Congress Party.

The former CM said the Contractors’ Association had even threatened to stop all ongoing work in various departments but now it had become silent. This has led to a feeling that Kempanna had entered into a tacit understanding with the CM. “Something fishy might have happened. So far, I haven’t met Kempanna but I have a copy of his letter written to PM Modi. I suspect the association might have entered into an internal agreement with the government. I have my own suspicion about Kempanna. I demand an inquiry to know about this suspected tacit understanding”.