Will retire from politics if I have taken money for transfers: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said he would retire from politics if it is proved that he has taken bribe for transfer of officials.

He termed as 'figment of imagination' JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy’s allegation that ‘transfer business’ was going on in a big way under the Congress-led government in the state.

“I will retire from politics if anyone says that I took money for transfers. I object to the accusations made by Kumaraswamy and Bommai. I never transferred anyone in my department,” he said during a discussion in the Assembly on Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s address to the joint session.

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Siddaramaiah also said he has asked his cabinet colleagues to ensure that there was no corruption in their departments.

“The accusation of corruption in transfers is a figment of imagination because there is nothing else to speak against my government,” the CM said.

He also said Kumaraswamy was levelling charges because the five poll guarantees namely Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyoti, Yuva Nidhi, Shakti and Anna Bhagya have created a sense of political insecurity for the JDS leader.

Siddaramaiah told the House that he has ordered a probe into the illegalities that took place during the BJP government. However, former CM Basavaraj Bommai demanded investigation into the illegalities since 2013, he added.

“When we say that there was corruption in the previous government, their standard reply is ‘wasn’t there corruption in the Congress government?” Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah took a swipe at the BJP, which was in power for nearly four months from July 2019 to May 2023 but did not prove any corruption charges against the Congress government headed by him from 2013 to 2018.

“You could not prove that corruption took place during my previous term (as Chief Minister). This shows that no corruption had taken place in our previous government,” he said.

During the discussion, the Chief Minister slammed the BJP-led Centre for not allowing the Food Corporation of India to sell rice to Karnataka to implement the 'Anna Bhagya' scheme.

Condemning the allegation, the BJP legislators raised slogans against the Congress and staged a walkout. The motion of thanks to the Governor’s address to the joint session was passed in the assembly.