Bengaluru: Madal Virupakshappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Channagiri, was given a hero’s welcome Tuesday as he returned to his home constituency upon having secured bail in a case in which he was named as an accused after his son was caught red-handed by the Lokayukta accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh last week.
The legislator tried to turn the tables on the Congress, which is accusing the BJP of nurturing corruption, as he hailed Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai for tackling graft by empowering the Lokayukta to take action even against leaders of the ruling party.
Crackers were lit as people of the Channagiri constituency gave the BJP legislator a rousing welcome Tuesday, though Virupakshappa maintained that he was ‘not absconding’ as claimed by the opposition and was instead in his native village all this time.
Asked about the recovery of cash from the home of his son and co-accused Prashanth Madal, the legislator said the amount in question was “accounted cash” the details of which will be shared with the Lokayukta.
“Channagiri is the land of areca nut and in all regular households, there is Rs 3-4 crore because the cost of areca nut has gone up to Rs 50,000 (per quintal). I have 125 acres of areca nut (farms), two crusher units and one areca nut mart,” the MLA told reporters in his home constituency Tuesday.
Virupakshappa’s son Prashanth Madal, chief accountant of the Bengaluru Water Supply And Sewerage Board (BWSSB), was caught red-handed after a contractor filed a complaint with the Lokayukta Wednesday. Acting on the complaint, the Lokayukta laid a trap and caught Prashanth accepting Rs 40 lakh in cash Thursday.
The complainant had alleged that he was asked to pay a bribe of Rs 80 lakh in exchange for a tender of the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) — a state-owned company of which Virupakshappa was the chairman until he tendered his resignation Friday.
Subsequent raids on the homes and offices of the MLA and his aides, including KSDL officials, led to the recovery of over Rs 8 crore in cash and added to the troubles of the Bommai government, which is reeling under corruption charges ahead of assembly polls to be held later this year. Citing reports suggesting that the BJP MLA was “absconding”, the Congress Tuesday put up posters with his face, captioned “Missing”, in parts of Bengaluru in a bid to target the government over graft charges against the legislator and his son.
However, Virupakshappa’s advocate said the MLA was granted interim anticipatory bail by the Karnataka High Court as there were “no allegations or charges” against him. “When we applied for anticipatory bail, we asked what is there prima facie (evidence)? There is nothing prima facie. The honourable Justice Natarajan accepted my arguments and has granted interim anticipatory bail,” he told reporters in Bengaluru Tuesday.
The legislator had to furnish a bond of Rs 5 lakh and two sureties of the same amount and has been asked to appear before the court within 48 hours and cooperate with the investigating officer (IO).
On his part, Virupakshappa emphasised that KSDL soared to new heights under his leadership.
“As KSDL chairman, earlier it had a revenue of Rs 750 crore and in the last two years, it has gone up to Rs 1,350 crore. When the revenues were Rs 750 crore, the profits were Rs 40 crore and now with revenues at Rs 1,350 crore, the profits stand at Rs 240 crore. I do not have administrative powers or can sign any tenders. Our officials have done this (given tenders) in a non-partial way and there is no corruption,” he told reporters in Channagiri.
The Congress, meanwhile, has decided to go ahead with its call for a two-hour symbolic bandh on 9 March to protest ‘rampant corruption’ under the BJP regime.
“The 9th Karnataka Bandh is a symbolical bandh of markets only for 2 hours from 9 AM-11AM only against “Corrupt BJP Govt”. To avoid inconvenience, road-rail transport, educational institutions, exams, hospitals, essential services are all exempted & not a part of the bandh,” Randeep Singh Surjewala, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary incharge of Karnataka, wrote on Twitter.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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