A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated three years in office, the Opposition Congress taunted the BJP that the celebrations were not that of a common man even as it said that it was ready for discussion on any scam in the legislature session starting on Monday.
“Instead of speaking about the performance of the government, Janaspandana rally was used to criticise Congress. The BJP was adamant on conducting the programme despite rain-related woes in Bengaluru, price rise that has affected the common man and huge unemployment issues,” former Minister and MLA Priyank Kharge told reporters here on Sunday.
“We see the celebrations as that of the Chief Minister and a few other Ministers and not of common man. There were hardly a few original BJP leaders. Senior leaders V. Somanna and K.S. Eshwarappa were not seen. Of the five CMs from BJP, only two were present. BJP national president J.P. Nadda and State in-charge Arun Singh were missing,” he said.
Stating that the Chief Minister’s claim on government’s performance was bogus, he said: “Though the Chief Minister claimed that there were 20 lakh beneficiaries of Vidyanidhi scheme, in reality the government received not more than 10 lakh applications for the scheme. While the CM claimed to construct 150 SC and minorities hostel, he has allocated ₹259 crore for the purpose. Is it possible to construct 150 hostels with the allocation?”
Further, he pointed out that though the Chief Minister claimed that the State had created 50,000 jobs, Ministers representing departments of heavy industries, small industries and skill development had informed the Assembly that not a single job had been generated in two years.
The State is lagging in electrification of railway lines despite giving the highest number of MPs for BJP from South India. “I feel sad that the CM is telling lies to thousands. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not taught him (CM) development, he has taught him to peddle lies,” Mr. Kharge said.
Daring the BJP to investigate the alleged scams during Congress regime, he said: “BJP leaders have threatened the Congress to expose alleged scams. Who has asked them not to investigate? Have Congress leaders Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar or the party officially stopped it? Whom are you threatening? All investigative agencies are in your hands.” He said the Congress was ready to discuss any scam in the legislature session starting on Monday. “If the BJP has guts, it should hand over PSI, KPTCL, and PWD recruitment scams, 40 % commission allegations of contractors and bitcoin scam to a judicial inquiry,” he said.
Siddaramaiah seeks CM’s apology
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday sought an apology from Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for speaking lies about the death of IAS officer Anurag Tiwari. “It has been four years since the investigation leading to the death of Tiwari in Lucknow was given to CBI after Shobha Karandlaje spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. There is no information on the investigation. Mr. Bommai should tell people the outcome of the investigation or offer apology,” he said.
Regarding the Anna Bhagya scheme, the Leader of the Opposition sought to know from the Chief Minister why Karnataka spent ₹18,000 crore on Food and Civil Supplies Department between 2013 and 2018 if the Centre had funded Anna Bhagya scheme.
“The Chief Minister and other BJP leaders should stop telling lies in the future and speak of development if they have undertaken any. The Chief Minister and others who were competing to tell lies at Doddaballapura on Saturday should apologise,” he said.
BJP is panic-stricken: DKS
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar on Sunday said that the BJP was panic-stricken by the success of the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra.
“BJP has gone crazy after seeing the overwhelming response that people are showing for Bharat Jodo Yatra. They are panic-stricken by the 3,510-km yatra, which has been flagged off from Kanyakumari. The main purpose of the yatra is to unite all the people with diverse religious and cultural backgrounds under a single banner of nationalism. The objective of the yatra is diagonally opposite to that of BJP, which has always attempted to divide the people along their religious lines,” Mr. Shivakumar told reporters in Ballari.
