Karnataka: Gautham’s family denies political angle to suicide

The suicide of Gautham on August 9th had taken a political turn with senior Bharitya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Basangouda Patil Yatnal and CT Ravi accusing the Congress of taking a commission of 15% from contractors and delaying payment and clearance of bills for them. They linked this to the suicide of Gautham. 

Basangouda Patil Yatnal had tweeted stating, “Siddaramaiah’s new scheme for Karnataka Citizens -“Atmahatya Bhagya”. Contractor Gautam Committed suicide in Bengaluru. Contractors had met Governor and accused “Brother” of demanding a 15% bribe for the bill payment. Siddaramaiah and his government is busy collecting funds for Loksabha Elections. Karnataka has turned out to be an ATM for Congress High Command.”

CT Ravi had also tweeted on the issue. “The CONgress government in Karnataka has come up with “Suicide Bhagya” for Contractors.BBMP contractor Shri Gautam has committed suicide after facing delays in getting his payment for the work executed by him. Recently, BBMP contractors had accused the State’s Deputy Chief Minister of demanding 15% commission to clear pending payments. Corrupt CONgress is not only ruining Suvarna Karnataka but also taking lives in the process,” he wrote. 

Gautham’s family members have however denied any such link. Gautham’s brother in law said in a press interaction that Gautham was not a contractor. “The BJP is trying to concoct unestablished links. Do not disturb our family. He was a young lad. We were looking for marriage prospects for him. He was depressed for quite some time. He did not have any license for contracting,” he said.