Paid Rs 90 lakh bribe to BJP MLA to clear bills, says working president of Karnataka State Contractors’ Association

Speaking at a news conference in Bengaluru Monday, R Manjunath, working president of the KSCA and Chitradurga District Contractor’s Association president, alleged that he had paid Rs 90 lakh bribe to Thippareddy over a three-year period to clear bills of various works taken up by him.

“Due to demands for ‘commission’, contractors are not able to perform their duty,” he said, releasing a purported audio clip of a conversation he had with Thippareddy. Manjunath alleged that Thippareddy was charging a commission of 25 per cent for works carried out under Nirmithi Kendra, 25 per cent for minor irrigation works, 15 per cent for roads and five to eight per cent for buildings.

The contractor said he constructed the Public Works Department office building in Chitradurga, but had to wait three years for it to be inaugurated. Apart from the delay in clearing bills, Manjunath said he paid five per cent (Rs 12.5 lakh) of the Rs 2.5 crore PWD building project cost as ‘commission’.

Manjunath further said: “Rs 12.5 lakh was paid as commission for Medical College and Hospital (MCH) repair works taken up during the Covid-19 pandemic, Rs 10 lakh after executing Rs one crore medical gas pipeline system, Rs 4 lakh for a Rs 15 lakh medical gas room work and Rs 22 lakh for the construction of the second and third floors of the MCH taken up at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore. For the MCH construction works, Thippareddy took the full commission amount when only Rs 3.5 crore was released for the project.”

“The government owes Rs 25,000 crore to the contractors. It should be released soon,” he said.

Kempanna told reporters they would carry out a protest Wednesday to highlight problems faced by them. He also sought a judicial inquiry into the allegations raised by the contractors.

It can be recalled that the KSCA had written to the Prime Minister’s Office in 2021, alleging that they were being forced to pay 40 per cent ‘commission’ to clear bills for works carried out by them.