Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah clarified that he did not insult the Lingayat community. “BJP leaders are trying to falsely implicate me in a controversy because it is desperate,” he said in Arabhavi, near Gokak in Belagavi district, on April 24.
“Some BJP leaders are accusing me of insulting Veerashaiva-Lingayats by calling the community corrupt. That is not true. In a discussion with a TV channel, I said that (Chief Minister) Basavaraj Bommai is extremely corrupt. What is wrong with that? That is the truth. Everybody knows that. I never said the Lingayat community is corrupt, or anything like that. I did not even imply anything towards that. Their allegations are false,” he told journalists.
Mr Siddaramaiah said that he believes the allegation by (former Chief Minister) Jagadish Shettar, a Lingayat, that BJP leader B.L. Santosh had ensured that he did not get the ticket. “I believe him. He has spoken nothing but the truth,” he said.
