Contractors Association meets Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, demands clearing pending bills

Contractors Association of Karnataka President Kempanna met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his home office in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Contractors Association of Karnataka President Kempanna met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his home office in Bengaluru on Saturday. Kempanna demanded that the pending bills of contractors should be cleared in 30 days otherwise the contractors would go on strike.

Contractor Association President Kempanna said "Contractors' bills were pending for over 5-6months, regarding this issue we just had a meeting with the CM. He has promised to release the pending bills as soon as possible. Officers, engineers and BBMP commissioners are also demanding money but we didn't get any. CM has said that he will meet the officers. He has promised that within this year, the pending bills will be cleared. We also demanded to clear 50 percent bill this month to which the CM has agreed." On Friday, during an IT raid on a contractor's house in Karnataka, 42 crores of unaccounted money was found. IT officials seized cash amounting to Rs 42 crore from a property allegedly linked to contractor R. Ambikapathy.

Ambikapathy is the vice-president of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Contractors' Association and had been a prominent voice among the contractors association that had accused the then BJP government of asking for 40% commission from civil contractors. Former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP MLA CN Ashwath Narayan said on Friday that the Congress was using Karnataka as an ATM and using the money collected from contractors in five poll-bound states.

MLA CN Aswath Narayan said, "Rs 42 crores of unaccounted money was found with a contractor yesterday during an IT raid. The same contractor was blaming our government for corruption and alleging BJP was 40 percent commissioned government. The present government has made this state ATM. It is preparing to collect money from contractors and spend it for Congress in five state elections. IT raided the house of the person who accused us when our government fell. Now we know that this person is a Congress agent." The JDs also echoed its new ally the BJP alleging that Congress was synonymous with corruption.

"Who owns the money found in the contractor's house during the IT raid? On whose shoulders is this the money of sin collected? These questions need answers. It is the same story from the beginning. If Congress comes to power in the state, it will be a feast for the high command. The same thing is still happening. Karnataka has been earmarked for the five-state elections. The Congress is being blamed for the mistake of voting. This is the karma of the Kannadigas" said former Karnataka Chief Minister and JDs leader HD Kumaraswamy. (ANI)

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