Opposition begins overnight dharna in Vidhana Soudha demanding Excise Minister’s resignation

The BJP and the JD(S) MLAs began an overnight sleep-in protest on Tuesday inside the Vidhana Soudha demanding the resignation of Excise Minister R.B. Thimmapur over the alleged corruption scandal in his department. 

Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition R. Ashok alleged that there was corruption to the tune of ₹6,000 crore in the department, referring to a letter by Guruswamy, president, Karnataka Wine Merchants’ Association, an Excise official being trapped by the Lokayukta police recently, and a purported audio conversation between an Excise official and a lawyer. 

However, the government pushed back and even Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said there was no need for the Minister to resign based on mere allegations.

BJP and JD(S) MLAs during an overnight dharna at the Vidhana Soudha demanding the resignation of Excise Minister R.B. Thimmapur in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
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Mr. Thimmapur said that several former Excise Ministers also faced allegations of corruption and they were often made by vested interests. He claimed that he had brought in several reforms in the department to bring in transparency, and denied allegations of corruption. He tried to distance himself from the allegations and claimed that some officials were in the wrong and they had tried to misuse his name, referring to the audio clip in question. He said the officer was suspended. 

Audio tape

Mr. Ashok read out the transcript of an audio recording of a conversation between Excise Joint Commissioner Nagarajappa and a lawyer named Ramesh, in which there is a demand for ₹18 lakh for setting up a new wine store. “The audio says that bribes will be passed on to Mr. Thimmapur and his son Vinay. It is said that to reduce the bribe, one has to speak directly to the Minister,” Mr. Ashok said.

The reference to the part of the audio in which a senior Excise official purportedly suggests to the applicant to meet the Chief Minister or his son to get a new liquor vending licence, created a flutter in the Assembly. 

A complaint in this regard had also been filed before the Lokayukta and an Excise Department official had even made a statement on the corruption in the department before the Lokayukta, Mr. Ashok pointed out. He wondered why the audio recording was not sent to the FSL to verify the authenticity.

He also alleged that the bribes collected were finding its way to fund elections in other States. He said the Congress government was obliged to send money to Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Wait till probe

Senior Minister K.H. Muniyappa suggested that since the case was under investigation by the Lokayukta, demanding resignation of the Minister at this stage was unfair. “Let the investigation be completed and based on the findings, the next course of action will be taken,” he said.

Mr. Thimmapur took objection and said there was no case against him and the case in Lokayukta only pertained to officials. 

Multiple Ministers including Priyank Kharge, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Sharan Prakash Patil defended Mr. Thimmapur and pointed out allegations of corruption during the BJP regime and instances when the Ministers did not resign.

The BJP members pointed out instances of Ministers Nagesh and K.S. Eshwarappa resigning over corruption allegations.