Siddu writes to Sonia, Rahul defending his move to form separate ACB

March 23, 2016

Bengaluru, Mar 23: Under fire over forming a separate Anti-Corruption Bureau, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddarmaiah has written to his party top brass Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi defending the move, even as he rejected the Opposition demand for ACB withdrawal in the Assembly on Tuesday.

siddaSiddarmaiah has "assured" Congress President Sonia Gandhi that what has been done in Karnataka is in tune with the pattern prevailing in at least 12 other important states, officials in CM's office said.

"It is the endeavour of our Government to give more attention and focus to fighting corruption in the system. In view of that, ACB has been set up and I am confident that this will deliver better results than what is happening at present," a part of the letter shared with media read.

Siddaramaiah has also written similar letters to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Digvijay Singh, and Leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge.

In the Assembly, Siddaramaiah maintained that there was no "mala fide" intention to shield the corrupt or to weaken the Lokayukta through the constitution of ACB.

Replying after BJP and JDS called off their dharna in the well of the House demanding withdrawal of ACB, he said he was willing to discuss with the opposition ways to strengthen Lokayukta. Countering the BJP attack, Siddaramaiah said the police wing in the Lokayukta would also continue and a similar system prevailed in 15 states.

"There is no mala fide intention behind our decision. Nor are we trying to shield anyone," he said.

Refusing to step back, he said, "There is no question of withdrawing the ACB."

Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar (BJP) said the ACB should be withdrawn "at any cost" and his party would take the fight to outside the House and announced withdrawal of their protest to facilitate smooth functioning to discuss other "burning" issues like drought situation in the state.

Opposition BJP and JD(S) have accused government of "destabilising" Karnataka Lokayukta by creating ACB, and have demanded its immediate withdrawal.

Meanwhile, BJP state President Prahlad Joshi has also written to Sonia Gandhi requesting her to advise the Karnataka government against creating ACB and instead make Lokayukta stronger.

Comments

IBRAHIM.HUSSAIN
 - 
Wednesday, 23 Mar 2016

Lokayukta is a one of the corrupt institution which cannot be denied as per the recent incidents ofJustice Bhasker Rao & son, and Justice Madi.
May be Siddaramayya wanted more transparency in administration and right to punish the government corrupt officials, the only way to appointing ACB department. Those talking about this move and agitating, Gujarat have the same ACB and lokayukta is toothless tiger in Gujarat.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 29: Days after some youths allegedly threatened to 'behead' local MLA and former Karnataka minister U T Khader during a pro-CAA rally here, the Dakshina Kannada district unit of the Congress on Wednesday urged the police to register a case against the culprits.

A video of the incident that went viral on social media showed the youths raising slogans that they will "cut off his limbs and chop off his head if necessary" during the rally organised by the BJP in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act on Monday.

Addressing reporters here, District Congress Committee president Harish Kumar demanded that the police register a case on their own against the youths. He said if prompt action was not taken against the youths seen in the video, the Congress will launch an agitation before the office of the Commissioner of Police.

When asked by reporters about the video, Khader had on Tuesday brushed aside the threat, saying he had not taken it seriously. The MLA had also said he did not file a complaint with police as he had concern for the families of the youths.

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News Network
June 25,2020

Belagavi, Jun 25: Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi on Wednesday said that coronavirus was created to "scare us" and to create tensions on the border, in an apparent reference to China.

He said that everyone should learn to live with the virus and follow all norms needed to combat the disease.

"We all know who created the coronavirus. It was created to scare us and to create tensions on the border, we know who did it. We have to learn to live with the coronavirus. We do not need to be scared of it. We must maintain social distancing and follow all the sanitation norms," Angadi told reporters here.

Karnataka on Wednesday reported 397 new COVID-19 positive cases, taking the total count in the state to 10,118.

According to the state health department, the state's death toll has reached 164 after 14 fatalities were reported. As many as 6,151 people have been discharged so far.

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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Aimed at giving a boost to affordable housing, the Karnataka government on Tuesday decided to slash the stamp duty on new apartments costing up to ₹35 lakh.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to review the progress of the Stamps & Registration department.

The Chief Minister directed that the stamp duty be cut from the existing five per cent to two per cent on apartments costing less than ₹20 lakh, getting registered for the first time, his office said in a statement.

Further, the stamp duty on apartments costing between ₹21 lakh - ₹35 lakh will be down from five per cent to three per cent, it said. It is estimated that in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 induced lockdown, Stamps and Registration department might fall short of its revenue target by ₹3,524 crore. The revenue target for 2020-21 is ₹12,655 crore.

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