Allegations that the previous BJP government demanded 40% commission for the award of civil contracts made by a contractor in Bengaluru are “baseless”, according to the Lokayukta investigation.

According to TheFile, a Kannada investigative journalism portal, the Lokayukta filed a report in July this year saying that the allegations made by R Ambikapathy, vice president of the Karnataka State Contractors Association, were “baseless”. 

The allegations were first made during the previous BJP government by Ambikapathy and D Kempanna, president of the Karnataka State Contractors Association, at great personal risk. Right at the outset, they had also stated that proof would be hard to gather as the alleged bribes were made in cash. 

The Lokayukta report, however, slams them for making “baseless” allegations. It noted that “… this complaint would have to be closed as there is no aspect to be investigated”. 

The Contractors’ Association had alleged that the then BJP government, headed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, was demanding 40% commission from contractors for BBMP contracts. However, the Contractors’ Association had stated that there was no proof for the alleged corruption as the bribes had been paid in cash. 

The current Congress government rode to power in May 2023 with this allegation as one of its main planks, even coming with campaigns such as “PayCM” in the run up to the election. 

In Ambikapathy’s complaint to the Lokayukta, he had alleged that officials of the BBMP East zone had to be paid bribes as 40% commission. 

The previous BJP government handed the investigation of the case to the Lokayukta in an order dated March 2023. 

According to TheFile, which has a copy of the report, Ambikapathy was not awarded the contract of the park six years ago. That contract was actually awarded to NM Krishnamurthy for an amount of Rs 5.2 crore. No bribes were paid for this work according to the Lokayukta, TheFile reported. 

“When checking with other departments regarding other contracts given to Ambikapathy, it was found that no other contract had been given to him according to documents submitted by BMMP East sub-division officials,” TheFile reported quoting the Lokayukta report. 

The Lokayukta also found that in the five years before 2022, Ambikapathy had not received any contracts and so, the allegations made in the private television channel are “pure lies”, TheFile reported.