There was a huge uproar in the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday (February 3, 2026) night when the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Janata Dal Secular staged a protest accusing a minister of the Congress government of corruption. The opposition has demanded the resignation of state Excise Minister RB Timmapur. BJP alleges that corruption is going on on a large scale in the Excise Department of Karnataka and bribes are being openly demanded for issuing liquor licenses. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashok claimed that this alleged scam is worth around Rs 6,000 crore.
R Ashok also alleged that the ruling Congress is using the money raised from this alleged corruption for party funding in election states. This matter came into limelight when on January 16, Bengaluru Urban District Excise Deputy Commissioner Jagdish Naik and two other officials were arrested red-handed by the Lokayukta police while accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh. According to Lokayukta officials, these officials are accused of demanding a bribe of Rs 80 lakh for issuing CL-7 (hotel and boarding house) and micro-brewery licenses.
Excise minister rejected demand for resignation
Excise Minister RB Timmapur rejected the opposition’s demand for resignation. The minister said that even during the BJP rule, no minister had ever resigned on such allegations. In his defence, the minister also said that corruption in the excise department is nothing new. He claimed that he has taken important steps to reduce corruption at every level and the process of issuing licenses has been simplified after discussions with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. It is noteworthy that today is the last day of the special session of the Karnataka Assembly and once again there are chances of uproar in the House regarding this issue.
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