Corruption is one the major issues concerning the state of Karnataka, as several leaders from the state including a former Chief Minister have been accused in rampant corruption cases. Corruption in Southern India has always affected the socio-political landscape in the region, while Karnataka has been labeled by many as the most corrupt state in the country. Although, corruption is pertinent in almost every state across India, unlike Northern India where corruption has stagnated the growth in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, in Southern states corruption has taken over corporate identity, where the progress of state is not hindered due to corruption.
Major political parties in Karnataka cannot boast themselves as clean in terms of corruption, various ministers and politicians from Congress, BJP, and JD(S) have been accused and convicted on corruption charges. Karnataka has an abundance of mineral resources, that generate large sums of revenue for the state. Private mining contractors who are given the contract to operate the mines, use the money made from mining activities to bribe police and administrative officials for the speedy continuation of their mining activities. The state government has a weakened stance on the issue, as it brings in revenues worth thousands of crores, proving beneficial for the state’s economy. The former Chief Minister and BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate in the upcoming state assembly elections, B S Yeddyurappa had his government loose the floor of the house in 2011, due to his alleged involvement in illegal denotification of land. On the other hand, the opposition BJP has accused the present Congress state government of being corrupt, while accusing several top ministers of running corruption racket. The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi labeled the Siddaramaiah led-government as a “10 % commission government”, during his event in Karnataka few months ago. While in a freaky event of things, BJP President Amit Shah called B S Yeddyurappa as the most corrupt politician in a slip of tongue event, before being made to correct his error by another party member on the stage.
Contrastingly, the National Crime Records Bureau’s data based on the Prevention of Corruption Act 2016 report, showed that only 25 cases of corruption were registered in the state. Former Lokayukta Santosh Hegde rubbished the reports suggesting that Karnataka is on par with almost every state of India in terms of corruption. Later NCRB realised that they had accessed the wrong data while preparing the report, Anti-Corruption Bureau which replaced the Lokayukta system admitted to the rampant corruption in Karnataka, while accepting that the agency had committed a mistake. Contradictory to the reports, Karnataka ACB IGP KV Sharatchandra stated that 405 cases were registered till November 2017, and the anti-corruption agency is taking actions against the prevalent corruption in Karnataka.
Corruption remains a daunting task for the state, especially with the upcoming state assembly elections, the people are looking for answers from the legislators. People of the state are growing resentful of the state’s inability to reduce the rampant corruption, that is allowing the private mining contractors to exploit the resources of the state to suit their business interests. Both BJP and Congress are sailing on the same boat, when it comes to take a stand on corruption, as several ministers and politicians from both the parties have several corruption cases pending against them. It remains to be seen what policies will these parties will come up with in their election manifestos before going to poll on May 12.
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