Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Monday, August 24, defended Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s meeting with industrialist Gautam Adani, saying the latter had met the Chief Minister as a government contractor after emerging as the L1 bidder for two projects.
Kharge said the state government could not reject or alter a tender merely because the successful bidder was a prominent industrialist.
“Adani is a contractor, a government contractor. He has emerged as L1 in two projects that are important for Karnataka,” Kharge said.
He maintained that the tendering process had been transparent and that the government had no reason to interfere with the outcome if all rules had been followed.
According to Kharge, the meeting between Adani and Shivakumar could have been a courtesy meeting after the company emerged as the successful bidder.
“Our job is to get the work done. Whether it is Ambani, Adani or anyone else does not matter. If the tender process has been followed, what can we do?” he said.
‘Opinion cannot override legal procedure’
Kharge also questioned the BJP’s criticism of the meeting, saying political parties could have different opinions about industrialists, but those opinions could not override legal procedures.
He pointed out that Adani-linked companies had also acquired the ACC Cement plant in Chittapur and said the government had to respect investments and business activities carried out in accordance with the law.
On the controversy surrounding the tunnel project, Kharge said the government could not prevent an eligible company from participating in a tender.
“If we had given the tender to somebody else, the BJP would have alleged a scam. Since the process was transparent, Adani got the tender,” he said.
Kharge further said even relatives or associates of political leaders could participate in government tenders as long as they fulfilled the prescribed eligibility conditions and there was no violation of the law.
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