Karnataka governor seeks probe against agri minister over graft allegations

The Karnataka governor’s office has written to the state chief secretary’s office seeking a probe into corruption allegations against agriculture minister N Chaluvarayaswamy. The letter comes after seven officers from the Agriculture Department wrote a letter to the governor’s office, accusing the minister of demanding a bribe of ₹6 to 8 lakh. In the purported letter, which the minister called fake, officials mentioned that they would resort to extreme measures, like consuming poison, if no action was taken against the minister.

The letter was allegedly written by a group of agricultural department officials in Mandya district, which is the minister’s home district. The governor, in response to the letters received, instructed the chief secretary of Karnataka, Vandita Sharma, to investigate the matter thoroughly and take appropriate action.

The governor’s letter said that the allegations involve multiple officials from different taluks of Mandya district, accusing the minister of seeking bribes. The governor’s secretariat attached copies of the allegations to their letter for reference.

“7 officers of the Agriculture department, joint agriculture secretaries, and officials from Mandya, Malavalli, Krishnarajapete, Pandavapura, Nagamangala, Srirangapattana and Maddu have levelled corruption allegations against Agriculture Minister Cheluvarayaswamy. We have attached allegations copy along with this letter,” the letter from the Karnataka governor’s secretariate said.

“Joint agriculture directors of different taluks of Mandya district have written to me that the minister has demanded ₹6-8 lakh from officials. If such corruption is not stopped, officials stated that they would consume poison. Immediately, look into this matter and act accordingly,” said the letter written by the governor to the chief secretary.

However, minister Chaluvarayaswamy denied any knowledge of the letters and labelled them as fake. He stated that he had not received any such communication and questioned the authority of the directors who penned the letters. Nevertheless, he expressed willingness to cooperate with a thorough investigation if any errors or irregularities were found.

“I am not aware of the letter, I don’t know about the letter or who wrote it. When I asked the joint director, he said that it was a fake letter as none of them have such powers,” Chaluvarayaswamy claimed. “Many people are searching and waiting to create confusion about me. If there is any mistake or such things, I will direct the secretary to investigate the matter and the letter,” he added.

The minister further said that he wants to know the truth and suggested an investigation. “The more we target, the brighter we become. In Mandya district, the joint director has neither spoken to nor visited any assistant directors or spoke about money matters,” he said.

“I have not spoken in any district, can you do it in my district? It’s a task for some people to wake up in the morning and target me even without having their breakfast. I don’t mind, I will do my job,” he added.

In the past, Cheluvarayaswamy was associated with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD -S) and held a close relationship with H Kumaraswamy and the family of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. However, in 2018, he joined the Congress along with a notable group of leaders, among them minister for housing BZ Zameer Ahmad Khan.