Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has attacked the Karnataka government over the alleged suicide by a contractor who had said that he was asked for a bribe.Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, "BJP's 40% Commission Govt in Karnataka has claimed the life of their own Karyakarta.The victim's pleas to the PM went unanswered. PM & CM are complicit."The issue came to the fore after a Belagavi-based contractor, Santosh Patil, who was said to be a BJP worker, accused Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister K S Eshwarappa of corruption, and allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday.After the allegation surfaced in March the Congress has been demanding the sacking of Eshwarappa over the bribery allegation by the contractor who had written a letter to the Prime Minister.
The Congress had said that the Karnataka Contractors Association President has alleged that officials in the BJP government demanded a 40 per cent commission in the contracts and said, "we are finding it very difficult to manage this big corrupt practice of Karnataka."The allegation which has rocked Karnataka had been made by Santosh Patil from Belgaum district who had executed a contract worth about Rs 4 crore in Hindalaga Gram Panchayat. The Congress claimed that Patil alleged that he was asked for a 40 per cent bribe.Congress MP Naseer Hussain alleged that when the contractor went for the release of the funds, the minister's associates asked Santosh Patil to give 40 per cent out of the Rs 4 crore, which he did. He said he had given Rs 15 lakh to the associates of the minister, but they are demanding 40 per cent of the contract money.