Bengaluru: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, now the leader of the opposition in the assembly, Thursday claimed to have documents to prove his allegations of a Rs 2,000-crore scam in the procurement of Covid-related medical equipment by the B.S. Yediyurappa government.
Addressing the media in state capital Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah shared what appeared to be official documents purportedly signed by state government authorities. These included documents that seemed to detail the purchase of 1,000 ventilators, which are a key medical equipment for the treatment of critical Covid-19 patients.
According to the documents shared by the leader, the cost price of 1,000 ventilators is Rs 4 lakh per piece, which should have cost the Karnataka government Rs 40 crore. The Yediyurappa government, however, paid Rs 120 crore for the same number of ventilators, Siddaramaiah alleged.
He said the documents also indicated that the Karnataka government bought ventilators at three different prices — Rs 5.6 lakh, 12.32 lakh and 18.2 lakh — on three different dates.
“The BJP government has indulged in corrupt practices in purchasing equipment like masks, ventilators, sanitisers, beds, PPE kits and thermal scanners,” Siddaramaiah added.
The Congress leader said, contrary to the BJP’s claims that they have not “misused a single rupee”, he has “enough documents to prove their corruption”.
“CM Yediyurappa in his public address (on 21 July) promised that the government will provide information about all purchases made to handle Covid-19 within 24 hours. We have sent more than 20 letters seeking details of the expenditure incurred by the various departments and the purchases. Where are the details?” he said. “Why is the government not being transparent, Are they not answerable to the people and the legislature… What do they have to hide if their books are clear ?”
The BJP denied the allegations at a press conference called by five ministers soon after.
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BJP hits back
Soon after the press conference, CM Yediyurappa along with a battery of ministers got together for a meeting to counter the allegations, sources said.
Five ministers involved in the pandemic response subsequently held a press conference, where they denied all the allegations. They were Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Deputy Chief minister Dr Ashwath Narayan, Revenue Minister R Ashok, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar, and Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar.
Narayan said the Congress “is trying to showcase our proposals and projections” as “our expenses”. Sudhakar, meanwhile, offered a detailed breakdown of the expenditure his department had made for ventilator purchases. He said the Karnataka government had, in January 2019, purchased 39 ventilators from a vendor at Rs 21 lakh each. At the time, the Congress was in power.
“We have procured a higher specification ventilator from the same vendor at Rs 18 lakh. We have managed, during the times of Covid-19, to negotiate and strike a better deal for a better technology ventilator, and they accuse us of misappropriation?” Sudhakar said.
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A continuing exchange
The Karnataka Congress has been for weeks accusing the BJP of corruption in the purchases of Covid-related equipment.
On 17 July, Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar said the state had purchased ventilators for nearly four times the price at which Tamil Nadu procured them.
“TN purchased them at Rs 4.78 lakh (apiece), while the Karnataka government had procured the same for Rs 18.2 lakh,” Shivakumar said.
The BJP has denied the allegations all through.
Three days ago, Karnataka Health Minister B. Sriramulu asked if the Congress could produce documents to prove their allegations of irregularities in purchases.
“Their allegations are baseless. We have tried our best to provide adequate equipment for our Covid warriors at a time when there has been a severe shortage across the country and the world,” the minister told ThePrint over phone.
The health minister also sought to present a cost breakup of the expenses incurred in the procurement of ventilators, PPE kits, N95 masks, sanitisers and surgical gloves.
“We only tried to ensure there was no shortage of life-saving drugs and equipment. The health department has spent Rs 290 crore and the medical education department has spent Rs 33 crore for the procurement of medical equipment since March,” said Sriramulu.
“Siddaramaiah’s claims that we have purchased ventilators at Rs 120 crore is baseless. We have documents to show that the purchases of 748 ventilators by the government has cost us Rs 10.61 crore,” Sriramulu added. “This is an attempt being made by the former chief minister to malign us and realise his dream of becoming a CM again.”
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