‘BJP promised to scrap ACB before 2018 elections, and then justified ACB for 3 years, but accuse Siddaramaiah of weakening Lokayukta’
The Hindu
Siddaramaiah insists that anti-corruption body Lokayukta’s powers were not curtailed during his tenure as Chief Minister of Karnataka
Countering the BJP’s charge that the Lokayukta was weakened during his tenure as Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah claimed that the anti-corruption body was neither closed nor were its powers curtailed when he was at the helm in Karnataka. The Leader of Opposition is touring Karnataka in connection with the coming Assembly elections.
Responding to queries by reporters in Mysuru on March 6, Mr Siddaramaiah said Vishwanath Shetty was functioning as the Lokayukta, which proved that the office of Lokayukta was not closed during his tenure as Chief Minister.
When informed that the BJP was accusing him of weakening the Lokayukta, Mr Siddaramaiah said any move to reduce the powers of the Lokayukta required an amendment to the Lokayukta Act,, and there was no such amendment to the Act during his regime.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which was constituted during his tenure, was established under the Prevention of Corruption Act. While the Lokayukta was constituted under the Lokayukta Act, the ACB was constituted under the Prevention of Corruption Act. “The two were covered by two different sets of laws,” he said.
He accused the BJP of lying on the issue of Lokayukta. The BJP had promised to abolish the ACB in its 2018 Assembly election manifesto, but failed to live up to its promise.
He pointed out that the State Advocate General, during the BJP regime, had justified constitution of ACB by referring to its existence alongside the Lokayukta in 16 States in India. “When the State Advocate General argues in favour of ACB, it means that is the stand of the government,” he said.
Questioning the BJP government’s moral right to criticise his government, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “The BJP was in power for three years (till the High Court issued the direction to scrap the ACB). Why did they not scrap the ACB?”
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.