BENGALURU, 18 JULY

The ruling Congress in Karnataka on Thursday accused the BJP of using central agencies such as Enforcement Directorate (ED) to topple the State government by exerting pressure on those arrested in connection with the Valmiki Corporation scam to spell out names of senior leaders.

Addressing a press conference held on Thursday, five ministers alleged that the ED is pressuring the accused in the Maharishi Valmiki Corporation Board scam to name Congress government ministers to knock down the government.

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda stated that the central government and ED has no intention to find the real culprits but they are planning to knock down top Congress leaders. He said, "We have definite information and we will share it with you,” he said.

 These accusations comes after Opposition leaders in State Assembly presented a four-hour-long speech on the Valmiki scam and the allegations were made just days after the arrest of the Minister of ST Welfare, Youth, and Sports B Nagendra by the ED in connection with the scam.

 The ministers highlighted that since 2014, the number of cases registered by the ED has increased by 400 per cent, with 95 per cent of these cases targeting Opposition members.

 Karnataka IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge highlighted that in the past 10 years, the ED has primarily targeted Opposition governments.

Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao noted that BJP’s agenda is to maintain a single-party dominance and planted their tactics in Karnataka as well.

Energy Minister KJ George lashed out at BJP, stating, "If ED and CBI are private investigation agencies, why are the details made public before the court, and where is the legal process to be followed?" Salar News/ PTI