The BJP in Karnataka got partial relief as the Justice Nagamohan Das Committee found no evidence to support the 40% commission allegations made by the contractors’ association. However, the panel noted that the malaise of corruption was prevalent during the BJP regime that it examined.

Although the one-man judicial commission that probed the charges of corruption against the previous government said that corruption was deep-rooted in the system, it found no evidence of the charges of 40 per cent commission being the norm for securing government contracts and passing of bills as alleged by the contractors’ association before the previous assembly elections.

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In fact, the then opposition Congress made corruption the central plank of its campaign and ran a very catchy and successful PayCM campaign and 40% Sarkara against the BJP government, and the campaign seemingly worked. It added to the overall push for Congress to oust the BJP government, and corruption became one of the crucial issues that played out in the elections in 2023.

The BJP and the then Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai, had flatly denied the Congress charges then, but during the campaign, the charges stuck onto them.

It is believed that the probe committee that investigated the allegations of 40% commission could not find any substantive proof of the claims. The probe committee could not establish specific charges of kickbacks that were made by the Karnataka State Contractors Association. During the examination, the contractors’ association could not provide concrete proof to back its claims.

However, the probe committee maintained that on the basis of written submissions provided by the association, corruption seemed well entrenched in the system—manifesting in delays, violations, and apparent favouritism before and after the tendering process—but this cut across party lines and was not specific to any specific party.