Bengaluru: BJP Karnataka unit president and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday alleged irregularities in the Department of Collegiate Education in connection with the purchase of laptops. He demanded that the Karnataka
Minister for Higher Education Basavaraj Rayareddi resign from his post.
There was no immediate reaction from Rayareddi or the state government. “The Commissioner for collegiate education M N Ajay Nagabhushan had written to the chief secretary to stop the tender process as there were irregularities. Ironically, Nagabhushan was transferred. Being upright is a sin and liable for punishment,”
Yeddyurappa told reporters here.
Yeddyurappa said that in 2016-17 the Congress government purchased 1.5 lakh laptops at a cost of Rs 14,692 each.
However, this year, it paid Rs 24,692 for each laptop, spending Rs 10,000 more than what it had paid previous year for each laptop, he claimed, seeking to suggest that there were irregularities.
Besides asking Rayareddi to resign, Yeddyurappa demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should get the matter investigated by a sitting High Court judge. The laptops are meant for distribution to SC/ST students.
PTI