It was in 2008 that the BJP came to power in Karnataka for the first time ever in a South Indian state. ‘BJP – Party with a difference’ was its slogan back then. BJP indulged in horse trading as it bought MLAs from other parties in the name of ‘Operation Kamala’ and managed to form the government. BJP was able to do so by expending the wealth it had looted from illegal mining at Bellary and elsewhere thereby proving that it stood different from all other parties! After this, major corruption scandals hit the BJP including cases of land grabbing, de – notification, illegal mining, and collection of bribes through checks coming to the fore. When these corruptions saw the light, the then CM Yeddiyurappa and an influential Minister Gali Janardhana Reddy was imprisoned all of which is well-documented in Karnataka’s political history. It is important to note that Gali Janardhana Reddy is banned from entering Bellary even till date.
The BJP came to power for the second time after toppling the Congress-JDS alliance, again, thanks to Operation Kamala. BJPs second stint in power too is mired in a series of corruption scandals.
Against this backdrop, BJP seems to have become synonymous with corruption. An attempt is made here to provide a brief summary of the corruption and other scandals reported since the BJP came to power for the second time here in Karnataka.
11. Super CM Vijayendra Service Tax
It was in July 2019, that 76-year-old BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time. However, on many platforms, his own party members had accused that it was Yeddiyurappa’s son, Mr. B.Y. Vijayendra who acted as the real Chief Minister and hence was known as ‘Super CM’. The opposition parties accused him of fixing commission rates for each job and criticized it as Super CM Vijayendra’s service tax. He had been accused of receiving bribes amounting to crores from Ramalingam Construction Company in cash and through the routes of shell companies for awarding housing project (BDA) contracts. Power TV conducted a sting operation and reported on this issue continuously. The case is still under investigation.
