Mangaluru: Senior advocate and Dakshina Kannada District Congress Legal Cell president Manoraj Rajeev has strongly defended Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader, terming the corruption allegations levelled by the BJP as “false, politically motivated, and disrespectful to the Speaker’s office.”
The opposition BJP has accused Speaker Khader of financial irregularities in the name of legislative administration reforms and development projects. BJP MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri claimed that Khader, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s approval, sanctioned purchases at double the actual cost, allegedly bypassing the Finance Department’s recommendations.
The charges, first raised by Kageri at a press conference, have sparked a major political row across coastal Karnataka, with several BJP leaders joining the attack on the Speaker.
In response, Manoraj Rajeev accused the BJP of attempting to “malign the Congress government through fabricated narratives.” “The BJP, which was involved in multiple scams during its tenure, is now resorting to political drama to tarnish the Congress image,” he said.
Calling the allegations “a sign of political frustration,” Rajeev said the BJP has failed not only as a ruling party in the past but also as an effective opposition. He questioned the credibility of BJP MLA Bharath Shetty and MP Kageri for remaining silent when projects under the Speaker’s supervision were underway.
“If Speaker Khader developed MLA residences, were BJP MLAs unaware when the work began? If any irregularity existed, why didn’t they intervene earlier? They could have stopped the tender or withheld the bill,” he said. “Now, after everything is complete, they are staging a political show.”
Rajeev alleged that BJP leaders are showing “utter disrespect” to the Speaker’s chair by demanding an inquiry by a sitting judge without substantial proof. “If they genuinely believed there was corruption, they could have raised it on the floor of the House or moved a no-confidence motion,” he added.
As a legal expert, Rajeev further suggested that Congress legislators file a Privilege Motion complaint against the BJP members for making what he called “illegal and defamatory” allegations that undermine the dignity and authority of the Speaker’s office.
