Bengaluru, Aug 8 (Agency) The Secretariat of Karnataka Governor Thawaarchand Gehlot has shot off a letter to the Chief Secretary to look into the corruption charges levelled by the department officials against Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy. The gubernatorial communique stated that assistant directors in Mandya, Malavalli, KR Pet, Pandavapura, Srirangapatna, and Maddur taluk had accused Cheluvarayaswamy of seeking Rs 6 to Rs 8 lakh through Mandya’s Agriculture Joint Director. “Seven officers of the Agriculture department, joint agriculture secretaries, and officials from Mandya, Malavalli, Krishnarajapete, Pandavapura, Nagamangala, Srirangapatna and Maddu have levelled corruption allegations against Agriculture Minister Cheluvarayaswamy. We have attached allegations copy along with this letter,” the communique said. “Joint agriculture directors of different taluks of Mandya district have written to me that the minister has demanded Rs 6-8 lakh from officials. If such corruption is not stopped, officials stated that they would consume poison. Immediately, look into this matter and act accordingly,” it added.
However, Chelavurayaswamy termed the letter as “fake” and urged Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to order an investigation by the Chief Secretary into the matter to identify the persons behind it. He alleged that the “fake” letter was submitted to the Governor in the names of the Agriculture Department officials. “I had discussed the issue with the Joint Director of Agriculture in Mandya, and he informed me that no official from the department had written such a letter,” he said. Cheluvarayaswamy also stated that he has asked Mandya SP to launch a preliminary enquiry into the case, and called it a conspiracy to tarnish his image. Efforts to repeatedly taint his name was being made, the minister said. Earlier, Cheluvarayaswamy was in JDS and had a very good relationship with HD Kumaraswamy, and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s family. However, in 2018, he joined the Congress along with some prominent leaders like BZ Zameer Ahmad Khan, who is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led government.