BANGALORE: Opposition Congress members in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, demanded the state government to refer the BBMP’s alleged Rs 1,500 crore bill scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for investigation.Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda rejected their demand.As soon as the house assembled for the day, Congress member Sharana Prakash Patil, moving an adjournment motion strongly pleaded the Chair to take it for discussion immediately under rule 60, as the matter was serious in nature.Alleging massive corruption in BBMP, he said it would send wrong signal to the public, if the issue was not taken up for discussion.He urged the Chair to set aside all other business and allow a detailed discussion on the matter. He also sought a house committee probe into the matter as the scam involved over Rs 20,000 crore if accounted for all the 150 wards in the BBMP.Supporting the demand for a CBI probe into the matter, the Opposition leader in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah charged that hundreds of crores of rupees had been misappropriated in the BBMP where payment had been made for the works which have not executed.Strongly arguing for a CBI probe into the issue, he said that the vested interests which were responsible for the huge loss to the exchequer had also tried to destroy the evidence by setting fire to the documents.“The officer who is responsible for unearthing the huge scam was transferred by the state government without assigning different post,” he said. However, countering the charges, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said that government had ordered for a CID probe into the issue and expressed confidence that people responsible for the scam would be brought to books.“The quantum of scam alleged by the Opposition was far from truth. According to preliminary reports, the loss occurred to BBMP under the scam was only around Rs 5.5 crore,” he said.Later, Speaker K G Bopaiah who was in the chair agreed to take up the matter for discussion under Rule 69 on the motion.
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