Karnataka Congress MLA Raju Kage threatened to resign Monday, complaining of a lack of funds for development works and backed his party colleague B R Patil’s allegations that houses under government schemes were being allotted in exchange for bribes.
The four-time Congress MLA from Kagwad constituency alleged that the “administration has completely failed in Karnataka.” His primary grouse was the delay in the release of Rs 13 crore meant for community halls in his constituency.
“It has been two years since the chief minister’s special grant of Rs 25 crore was allocated (for Kagwad). Rs 12 crore was spent on roads, while Rs 13 crore was for community halls. In two years, have they released the Rs 13 crore? When did we give the proposal? Works orders have not been issued till now,” he said, asking whether it took two years for the government to release funds and take up works.
“The administration has completely failed in Karnataka. I am hurt. I am inclined towards resigning (as MLA). If I meet the CM in two days and resign, it won’t be a surprise,” the MLA said.
He also defended allegations by MLA Patil, the deputy chairman of the Karnataka State Policy and Planning Commission, on corruption in housing schemes. In a leaked call with Housing Minister Zameer Khan’s personal assistant Sarfaraz Khan, Patil was heard saying that houses under the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation were allotted in return for bribes in his Aland constituency. The names of beneficiaries recommended by him were not considered while allotting around 950 houses, Patil had said. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar later condemned Patil’s remarks and said that he and the chief minister will take up the matter with Patil.
“Whatever BR Patil said is not a lie. It’s the truth,” Kage said on Monday, adding that he faced the same situation in his constituency. The remarks come at a time when the Congress government has been cornered over corruption allegations in connection with the Valmiki corporation and the allocation of sites by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Responding to the remarks, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he would talk to Kage about his concerns. To a question on the special grant not being released, the chief minister said, “Is there anything called CM’s special fund in the budget? Whatever grants we give are called special grants. There is nothing called CM’s grant.”
Karnataka BJP, meanwhile, took to X to highlight that a ruling party legislator has threatened to resign by saying that the Congress government was not releasing grants for the development of his constituency. “The biggest challenge for the Siddaramaiah government now is to quell the anger of its own party MLAs,” the BJP said, accusing the government of failing to provide justice to its legislators.
Kage, a five-time MLA, had joined the Congress after leaving the BJP in 2019. Having won his first election on a Janata Dal (United) ticket in 2000, he was subsequently elected as a BJP legislator thrice – in 2004, 2008 and 2013. He won on a Congress ticket in 2023.
