Bengaluru, Nov 16 (IANS) Karnataka BJP chief B.Y. Vijayendra said on Saturday that 40 per cent of commission charges against the previous BJP government are outright lies as now established by the Lokayukta investigation.

“Our BJP government faced baseless and false propaganda of 40 per cent commission. The Lokayukta investigation now has revealed that these allegations were unfounded and nothing but outright lies,” he said.

He added that this proves that the Congress party, submerged in “corruption”, specialises in “deceit” and “fabricating false narratives”.

He said that Congress which has never gained power through “ethical” means, has only managed to seize power through “malicious” ways, “unethical” practices, “false propaganda”, and by “dividing” society, adding that the recently disclosed Lokayukta report is proof of this.

“I demand that the Congress government, led by CM Siddaramaiah, which came to power by deceiving the people of Karnataka with lies, immediately step down and apologise to the people of Karnataka,” he demanded.

Given that the Lokayukta report has been disclosed during the rule of the Congress government, there is no room left for the Congress party to justify or indulge in rhetoric regarding this matter, Vijayendra stated.

He said that currently, contractors across the state, unable to receive pending payments, are exposing the truth that it’s not "40 per cent” but commissions are rather "80 per cent" under the Congress government. "The legal whirlpool of ongoing scams is closing in on the Chief Minister and the Congress government," he underlined.

Following this, even Congress MLAs are reportedly being "sold," as admitted by the Chief Minister himself, tarnishing Karnataka’s reputation, he charged.

He added that the Karnataka government ordered a judicial inquiry into the "40 per cent commission" allegations against the previous BJP government in 2023. The inquiry was based on letters submitted to the then Opposition leader and now Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by contractors.

The "40 per cent commission" allegations began in April 2022 after the death of Santosh Patil, a contractor from Belagavi. Patil accused KS Eshwarappa, a former state minister and BJP leader, of demanding a 40 per cent commission for a government project. After Patil's claims, several contractors made similar allegations against government officials.