Referring to media reports that recently unearthed what he said corruption and irregularities in the implementation of welfare programmes and development projects in the State, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar has said that the State has risen to the top position in terms of corruption in the country.
“A media house in the State is publishing reports unearthing corruption and irregularities in the State on a daily basis. The State has emerged as the most corrupt in the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should give an award to the State Government for its achievement,” Mr. Shivakumar said, sarcastically.
He was speaking to media representatives in Kalaburagi on Tuesday before taking part in his party’s digital membership drive.
“The BJP Government in the State is so hungry for money that it has not spared development programmes and projects meant for the poor. We have found rampant corruption in the implementation of Ganga Kalyana Yojna, a scheme for drilling borewells for poor farmers,” Mr. Shivakumar said and added that his party will shortly release documentary evidence on corruption.
About the Government’s plans to introduce Bhagavad Gita in school textbooks, Mr. Shivakumar said that it was the Congress that had first introduced noble thoughts from the holy text in school textbooks.
“Much before the BJP thought of it, we included all the good things from the Bhagavad Gita in textbooks. Rajiv Gandhi, when he was Prime Minister, started the telecast of The Ramayan [a Hindu epic] in serial format on the State-owned Doordarshan. Congress Chief Minister Kengal Hanumanthaiya got copies of the Bhagavad Gita distributed at ₹2 apiece,” Mr. Shivakumar said and added that good things from religious texts of Buddhism and Jainism should also be included in textbooks.
On Tamil Nadu’s opposition to the Mekedatu project, Mr. Shivakumar said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had assured the people of the State that he will get the project implemented, no matter how much Tamil Nadu opposes.
“Let the BJP’s national leadership decide whom it wants, whether Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. Let us see what the BJP’s 26 Lok Sabha members will do in Parliament on this issue,” he said.
To a question on internal conflicts over the Congress national leadership, Mr. Shivakumar said that he firmly supported Gandhi family’s leadership.
“Some Congress leaders at the national level are questioning the leadership of the Gandhi family. They should realise that Sonia Gandhi was away from politics after losing her mother-in-law [Indira Gandhi] and husband [Rajiv Gandhi]. It was the Congress that persuaded her to take leadership of the party. When she had an opportunity to become Prime Minister, she declined it and assigned the job to internationally-acclaimed economist Manmohan Singh. These leaders who are questioning the leadership of the Gandhi family must have forgotten the fact that the party came to power twice at the Centre under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi,” he said.
“No matter who says what,” he added, “we have a strong faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.”
KPCC Working President Eshwar Khandre, District Congress Committee president Jagadev Guttedar and the former Member of Legislative Council Allamprabhu Patil were present.
