Will K’taka Home Minister G. Parameshwara Face Arrest?

Bengaluru, May 22 (NationPress) Former Deputy Chief Minister and MLA C.N. Ashwath Narayan has indicated that the Karnataka Home Minister, G. Parameshwara, may soon face arrest following the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) raids on educational institutions under his ownership.

During a media briefing in Bengaluru on Thursday, he addressed queries, highlighting that even Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has acknowledged a financial transaction involving Parameshwara and actress Ranya Rao, who is the primary suspect in a gold smuggling scandal, thereby implicating the Home Minister in the alleged crime.

“Any minister who colludes with syndicates participating in anti-national actions, smuggling, or causing a deficit in national revenue deserves accountability. The ED's investigation is underway, and once the findings are released, everything will come to light. Our focus is not to exacerbate the internal disputes within Congress, but to ensure justice is served and the guilty face consequences, which is the position of our party and the public,” he asserted.

He elaborated that the ongoing ED inquiry into Home Minister Parameshwara will clarify whether there were any financial exchanges, the nature of the relationship with Ranya Rao, the duration of their interactions, and the extent of involvement from other parties in this purported abuse of authority.

Furthermore, he criticized the Congress-led government for failing to supply essential medicines.

“The state has stipulated that 730 varieties of medications should be accessible every day of the year. However, since Congress assumed power, 200 essential medicines have been out of stock. When this was raised in the Assembly, they provided no explanation,” he claimed.

He alleged that the Congress administration is not securing the expected commissions, resulting in the use of expired medications like two-year-old Ringer Lactate, which has led to fatalities among pregnant and postnatal women.

He also pointed out the inconsistency in the government’s assertion of spending Rs 17,500 crore on public healthcare facilities.

“In these hospitals, X-ray machines function intermittently. There is a significant shortfall of essential medicines and doctors are often unavailable. To date, a thorough investigation into the deaths of pregnant and postnatal women is yet to be conducted,” Ashwath Narayan charged.

Additionally, he accused the government and Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao of unjustly targeting and closing down Jan Aushadhi centers.