Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah forms committee to review scams, including those during BJP govt

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday he has formed a five-member ministerial committee to review and coordinate the action to be taken regarding ongoing probe into various scams that have taken place, especially during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule in the state.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge and Labour Minister Santosh Lad are the members of the committee.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah wrote, “A committee consisting of Ministers @DrParameshwara, @HKPatilINC, @PriyankKharge, @krishnabgowda and @SantoshSLadIN has been constituted and ordered to take action regarding the progress, coordination, etc. of investigation of various scams ongoing at the level of government and investigating agencies.”

"The committee has been asked to complete its mandate within the next two months," Siddaramaiah added.

Earlier in the day, Parameshwara told reporters that during the BJP rule 20-25 scams have taken place, and all of them will be reviewed.

"A cabinet sub-committee was constituted during the previous cabinet [meeting], I have been made the Chairman for it. The Chief Minister has said that the report should be submitted in two months, we have started (the process). We have listed about 20-25 scams, we will review all of them," he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

"....if they (BJP) indulge in vendetta politics, what should we do? we should also do politics, so we will seek reports and act on them," he said in response to a question whether the government became aggressive against the opposition's alleged scams, after they started targeting those in the ruling party in connection with various scams.