Panel has found lapses in Covid-19 mgmt: Priyank Kharge

Bengaluru: The Justice John Michael Cunha Commission has found “procedural lapses, dereliction by officials and corruption” in Covid-19 management when the BJP was in power, IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge said on Monday.

This was revealed during an informal chat between the Commission and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at the time of submitting the interim report on Saturday. Priyank was present at the time. 

“But officially, I don’t have full information on what’s in the report. We’ll know once the CM brings the report before the Cabinet,” Priyank said. 

‘Mega loot’

Industries Minister M B Patil also claimed that “thousands of crores were looted” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The then government should have demonstrated humanitarian concerns during the pandemic. But even during such a time, money was looted,” Patil said, adding that the then health minister Dr K Sudhakar, the incumbent Chikballapur MP, was “certainly” involved. 

On August 31, the Justice Cunha Commission gave Siddaramaiah a 1,722-page report on the procurement of Covid-19 supplies worth Rs 7,223 crore. 

Sounding offensive, Priyank said his government would ensure a “logical end” to scams that happened during the previous BJP regime. 

“In the Assembly, the CM provided a trailer by listing out 21 scams. We’ll take all of them to the logical end. We’ve not yet spoken about the scam at the Karnataka Soaps & Detergents Ltd. In some cases, central agencies are meddling,” Priyank said. 

“Without us doing anything wrong, the BJP is misusing CBI, IT, ED and Raj Bhavan. BJP has done corruption. They made money off dead bodies,” Priyank said. 

Priyank also mocked Sudhakar for announcing a legal fight. “We don’t know what’s in the report. How did they (BJP) find out? Why are they preemptively talking about fighting this legally? We’ve not named anybody,” he said. But the minister maintained that the government was serious about the probe into Covid-19 irregularities.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Tumakuru, Home Minister G Parameshwara said that the term of the commission has been extended by eight months.