Karnataka Chief Minister on Thursday said central agencies like CBI, ED and Income Tax should be impartial and not function in favour of one party. He also said that the ruling Congress was ready to face and win November 13 by-polls in three assembly segments in the state.
“Nagendra (former Minister B Nagendra) has told the media that he was pressurised by the ED. He also informed me that he was pressurised to name me and D K Shivakumar (Deputy Chief Minister). No agency should work in favour of a party. Whether it is CBI or ED or Income Tax, they should function impartially,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.
The Chief Minister was responding to former Minister B Nagendra’s allegations that he was pressurised by the ED to name him and Shivakumar in the in Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation. Nagendra had, after walking out of the jail on bail on Wednesday, also charged the ED (Directorate of Enforcement) with arresting him in connection with the scam, under pressure from the BJP, as part of a conspiracy to destabilise the Congress government.