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In November 2021, in an unprecedented move, the Karnataka State Contractors Association shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Fatigued by corruption at all levels of the BJP government, the Association asked the Prime Minister to intervene and ensure they don’t have to pay 30-40% as bribe for every government contract. Corruption isn’t new and all previous regimes have been accused of it. But when asked why the Association, which has largely stayed away from political controversies, decided to launch an attack on the BJP government, they had an uncomplicated answer — there was corruption during the Congress and JD(S) regime, but it was less rampant and ‘affordable’. The Association had written to BS Yediyurappa when he was Chief Minister, then to the Governor, and the new Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. With no response from any of them, they decided to go to the Prime Minister, whose main election plank has always been corruption-free India.
Mounting bribes weren’t the only reason the contractors decided to approach the Prime Minister. The plight of one contractor – also a BJP member – was a signal that things were going from bad to worse. In March 2021, a contractor named Santhosh K Patil from Belagavi district alleged that Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister KS Eshwarappa had ensured his bills were unpaid, as Patil had not given the Minister his share of the bribe. According to Santhosh, he was hired for the construction of over 108 roads, worth Rs 4 crore, and despite finishing the work, he was unpaid, pushing him into a vicious cycle of debt.
Santhosh’s allegations and the Association’s letter made headlines for a few days. The BJP government kept saying that the allegations were untrue and that an investigation will prove it.
The hijab controversy took centre stage from January 2022. As the dialogue around corruption was almost fading out, Santhosh was found dead in a lodge in Udupi on April 12, 2022. A day before that, he had messaged a friend saying Eshwarappa “is directly responsible” for his death. Pushed to a corner, Eashwarappa resigned on April 15. He brazened it out even at the time of resignation and a few months later, the police gave him a free chit. Santhosh’s family has challenged this in court, alleging that key evidence was not presented in court by the police.
This opened a flurry of complaints against the government. In August 2022, the Karnataka unit of the Registered Unaided Private Schools Management Association (RUPSA) wrote to the Prime Minister alleging corruption in the Education Department. Having learnt a lesson from how the Contractors Association was cornered for evidence, RUPSA came armed with phone calls they recorded of officials asking for bribes. They alleged that bribes were primarily being taken under two pretexts — for releasing the Right to Education reimbursement amount and for renewal of recognition.
Sensing a political opportunity, the Congress launched the ‘Pay CM’ campaign. Posters of Chief Minister Bommai with a mock QR code on it appeared across the state and people were told to pay 40% to the CM. The Congress also launched a slogan — “40% sarkara, BJP means brashtachara” (40% government, BJP means corruption).
In the last two years, the BJP has faced many more allegations of corruption. One of the big scandals was on the Karnataka Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) examination that was held in October 2021 to fill 545 police sub-inspector posts. A local BJP leader from Kalaburagi named Divya Hagaragi, who ran a coaching institution, was at the centre of this scam with many others including police officers implicated in it.
The corruption related woes for the BJP continued in 2023 and created a major embarrassment for the party. On February 23, 2023, addressing a Vijay Sankalpa yatra in Ballari, Home Minister Amit Shah said, ”Trust PM Modi once and trust Yediyurappa once. We will form a government that will make Karnataka corruption-free and the number one state in southern India.” Less than 10 days later, the Karnataka Lokayukta arrested V Prashant Madal, the son of Channagiri BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa. Prashant who works as a chief accountant with the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) was caught taking Rs 40 lakh as bribe at his father’s office. After raids at various properties that the father-son duo owned, the Lokayukta recovered around Rs 7 crore.
Virupakshappa too had his answer ready. He claimed that it was normal for arecanut farmers in his locality to keep Rs 4-5 crore as cash at their houses. The MLA who declared Rs 5.4 lakh as his income in his 2018 election affidavit had no qualms claiming it was okay to keep crores in cash.
In the last four years that the BJP has been in power, many ministers and MLAs have gone to court and secured gag orders against the media and others for alleging corruption. This includes Basavanagudi MLA Ravi Subramanya, Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA Muniratna, IT Minister Ashwath Narayana, and Minister Eshwarappa.