Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said he would retire from politics if it is proved that he took a bribe from anyone.
Speaking at the state level convention of contractors at Palace Grounds, Siddaramaiah asserted that he never took any bribes, neither in his former tenure as chief minister, nor currently.
“I will retire from politics if it is proved that anyone bribed me to issue clearance letters to contractors during the period 2013-2018 or even after becoming chief minister for the second time (from May 20, 2023),” Siddaramaiah said.
He said he has directed Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi to award work worth Rs 4,000 crore without a package for the benefit of small contractors, as they were opposed to dividing single work into different packages.
Turning attention to the central government and the previous BJP government in the state, Siddaramaiah said that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and former CM Basavaraj Bommai had both announced in their budgets that they would give Rs 5,300 crore for the Bhadra Upper Bank Project but till today not a single rupee has come.
“Despite the non-cooperation of the central government, we will pay the contractors in instalments. The government is positive about all the demands put forward by the contractors, including cancellation of the package system and payment of arrears,” Siddaramaiah said.