Let PM Modi speak on corruption in Covid-19 management: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the alleged corruption in Covid-19 management when the BJP was in power in the state.

He charged the prime minister with lying when asked about the latter's allegation that the Congress government in Karnataka had raised Rs 700 crore from liquor vendors to fund the Maharashtra Assembly elections, and sought to know what the PM had to say about the alleged irregularities in Covid-19 management.

A personal protective equipment (PPE) kit which costs Rs 330 per piece was purchased for over Rs 2,100 per piece by the then BJP government in the state, the chief minister alleged. "All the scams took place during the BJP government. Our government did not do any corruption and will not indulge in such acts. The prime minister is lying," Siddaramaiah said.

"Let him prove it (the allegation), I will retire from politics (if it's proven). Will he step down from the PM's post if he fails to prove it? There should be some limit to lying," he said.

On the Enforcement Directorate's probe into the MUDA (Mysore Urban Development Authority) site allotment case in which he, his wife Parvathi B.M. and his brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy are among the accused, Siddaramaiah said let the ED question whoever it wants to. "I will not comment on the ED probe but all I can say is it is investigating a false case," the chief minister added.

To a question on re-inducting Ballari Rural Congress MLA B. Nagendra into the cabinet, Siddaramaiah said the legislator had spoken to him in this regard on Tuesday. The chief minister said he had told Nagendra that he would consider the matter once the by-elections to three Assembly segments in Karnataka are over.

Nagendra, who was the Scheduled Tribes welfare, youth empowerment and sports minister, resigned from the cabinet in June this year over the alleged scam in the state-run Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd.

In response to another query, the chief minister said there is no proposal before the government to lift the night ban on vehicular traffic in Bandipur tiger reserve in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts.