Karnataka | The political contract
In the southern state, contractors fear that the probe orders against works cleared by the BJP regime will further delay payments
When the Congress government took over in Karnataka in May, it had to demonstrate its intent on one of the key issues that had propelled it to power: the allegations of 40 per cent corruption against the previous BJP government led by Basavaraj Bommai. Accordingly, one of its first moves was to freeze payments of outstanding bills for works approved during the BJP regime. But that ended up hurting the very people who had levelled the allegations: the contractors. So a month later, CM Siddaramaiah’s regime softened its stand, allowing ministers to clear payments for ongoing projects after verifying them. But alongside, it also ordered probes into projects cleared in the past. The move, contractors fear, will delay the bills further, leading to stoppage of work.