Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar blamed the previous BJP government on Tuesday for the issue of the large backlog of unpaid contractor bills in the state.

He said the contractors have done ‘overwork’ and the departments under his portfolio are carrying out works worth Rs 1.2 lakh crore.

Speaking to reporters here, Shivakumar, who has Bengaluru development and water resource portfolio, said members of the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association met him and requested him to clear the pending bills.

"The biggest problem is that when the BJP was in power, they (contractors) did overwork,” the Deputy CM said.

Explaining further, he said, "In my departments alone Rs 1.2 lakh crore worth of work is in progress but I have a budget of Rs 16,000 crore and a capital of Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 6,000 crore. We can release only Rs 5,000 crore."

Shivakumar said the departments are releasing money based on seniority. However, it has been decided to clear the bills of small contractors as early as possible. He also said that Rs 5,300 crore which was supposed to come from the Centre for the Upper Bhadra project has not been released yet.

"This is the status but I have assured them that we will clear the bills based on the seniority. We will not take up major works but still as per the requirement we are taking up,” Shivakumar said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had on Monday blamed the contractors for increasing pending bills, saying tenders were floated without budgetary provisions and then the works were completed.

"The tenders were invited without budgetary allocations. The contractors participated in the process, the contracts were finalised, and the work started. That's how the pending bills accumulated. Are we responsible for it?" the chief minister asked.

After the meeting with the chief minister, the Karnataka State Contractors' Association (KSCA) alleged that the corruption prevailing now was more than what existed during the previous BJP government.

Corruption charges helped the opposition Congress launch the '40 per cent commission' allegation in Karnataka in 2023, which finally led to the ouster of the BJP.

KSCA president R Manjunath claimed before reporters that officials were harassing them to clear the bills.

He also said the contractors will meet Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to flag the corruption prevailing in the state and the harassment they are facing.