Shivamogga DCC bank elections: ‘BJP leaders want their candidates elected to avoid investigation into scams’
Senior leaders of the BJP are showing unprecedented interest in the Shivamogga District Cooperative Central Bank elections, scheduled for Friday, to protect the corrupt people who looted money in the recruitment of 98 people, said Congress leader Ayanur Manjunath.
In a press conference in Shivamogga on Thursday, Manjunath said the BJP Lok Sabha member and the former Chief Minister were showing interest in the elections. They had been calling individual voters to seek votes for candidates in support of the BJP. “This has never happened. Some voters are being offered cash to vote for their candidates,” he said.
When the BJP-supported body was holding power in the bank, there was a scam with regard to the recruitment of 98 staff members. “The directors sold posts for lakhs of rupees each. Each post was sold for ₹45 lakh to ₹50 lakh. Interestingly, soon after the recruitment process, the fresh recruits were granted loans, defying norms, even when they had not completed the probationary period. All of them were granted loans on a single day, and the amount was withdrawn the same day. The turn of events suggests that the candidates were given loans to clear their dues to the directors, who got them recruited,” he said.
The BJP people do not want the issue probed and the guilty punished. “Hence, they want their candidates to be elected as directors in the election. There are reports to suggest that the BJP supporters may create a law and order problem ahead of the polls so that the election is cancelled,” he alleged.
D. Manjunath, a resident of Shikaripur, who moved to court challenging the recruitment process, said that the way the written test for the applicants was conducted itself was a violation of the rules. “I was also an aspirant for the clerk’s post. During the examination, the candidates were not allowed to take home question papers. I raised the issue immediately. However, nobody took note of it then. Following my petition, the High Court has served a notice to the bank,” he said.
The elections for the directors of Shivamogga DCC Bank will be held between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday. As many as 27 candidates are in the fray for 12 posts.
District Congress Committee president R. Prasanna Kumar and others were present.
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