Misuse of power: BJP, Congress prove they are two sides of same coin

This decision was taken by the Karnataka cabinet last week against the previous BJP government’s approval to the CBI for probing the disproportionate assets case.

Hyderabad: When it comes to misuse of power, both Congress and BJP appear to be two sides of the same coin. In the neighbouring State of Karnataka, the Congress government has withdrawn the sanction accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate a disproportionate assets case against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

This decision was taken by the Karnataka cabinet last week against the previous BJP government’s approval to the CBI for probing the disproportionate assets case. The Congress government has defended its decision saying the previous order by the BJP government was “not in accordance with law”.

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“The Speaker has to give his permission and then the orders can be issued by the CM. Here, the (former) CM has passed an order without waiting for the opinion of the advocate general. The CM has instructed the chief secretary orally and the chief secretary ordered that the case be given to CBI,” Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah was quoted as saying to the media.

However, the BJP has found fault with the Congress government’s decision. “The cabinet decision is illegal under the Constitution. I request DK Shivakumar, if you have faith in the legal process, and then please do not entertain such decisions taken by the cabinet. I demand the Chief Minister take back this decision.

Crores of money has been seized in Karnataka and other States. When ED is investigating, then the decision of the cabinet is completely illegal,” Karnataka BJP Chief BY Vijayendra was quoted as saying.

Last week, ED raids were conducted at eight places in Mancherial and Hyderabad belonging to former MP and Chennur Congress candidate G Vivek. This was after reports in the media about Rs.8 crore were transferred from a company related to the former MP.Incidentally, Vivek had quit the BJP a few days ago. He joined the Congress and is contesting from Chennur.

Interestingly, though the ED says the illegal transactions were going on for quite some time, there were no raids when Vivek was with the BJP. But as soon as he quit the saffron party and joined the Congress, raids began against him and his companies.