Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Opposition, rubbished the BJP’s allegation that the death of Santosh Patil was a Congress conspiracy.
“That is meaningless, baseless, and ridiculous. BJP leaders are making such allegations against us, only to cover up their sins,’’ he told journalists.
“Why do you think they are terming it a Congress conspiracy? That is because no killer ever accepts his crime. No criminal ever admits to his involvement in offences. That is why the BJP leaders are blaming us,’’ he shot back.
“BJP leaders are irresponsible, inhuman and insensitive to the pain of their own brothers,’’ Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
“We demand that RDPR Minister Eshwarappa be arrested. I don’t know how the party will handle it. They may sack him from the Ministry or ask him to resign. I am not bothered about that. We want him to be brought to justice. He should be arrested and an impartial inquiry be conducted,’’ he said.
To a query on Patil taking up civil works on the oral instructions of the Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that there was no doubt about it, as there were several ways to prove it. Patil’s wife and mother have told us and the media that the Minister had harassed him by seeking bribes and by lodging a case of defamation against him.
“In the police complaint, his brother Prashant Patil has expressly stated that Mr. Eshwarappa and his personal assistants had sought 40% commission to clear the bills. What is more, Nagesh, the Hindalga gram panchayat president, has stated that he had accompanied Santosh to see Mr. Eshwarappa on two occasions. He is an eye witness. What more evidence is needed for the police to arrest Mr. Eshwarappa?’’ Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
“Should the people believe the accused or the victim? No claim of innocence by the accused should be relied upon by the government, the people or the media. We should all go by the allegations made by the victim,’’ he said. Mr. Eshwarappa has harassed Santosh by delaying payments, making him run pillar to post, by denying knowing him and by lodging the defamation case. All this was told to us by his family,’’ he said.
Earlier, at the Belagavi airport in Sambra, Mr. Siddaramaiah described Mr. Eshwarappa as ‘a monster’. “He is thoroughly corrupt, inhuman, irresponsible and insensitive. He should be tried for murder and corruption,’’ he said. “Would the government not arrest Mr. Eshwarappa if he was not a Minister and he faced such allegations? Why should there be one law for the common man and another for the Minister?,’’ he said.
About the questions raised by some BJP leaders about the veracity of claims made by Santosh, Mr. Siddaramaiah said they were all post-mortem thoughts that deserved no response. BJP leaders are saying why was the rural MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar silent when Santosh was carrying out works without work order. I ask them, is it possible for a layman to take up any such work without the Minister’s consent? Will the officers keep quiet if someone starts work without proper documents. They have remained silent only because the minister has orally instructed the BJP worker to take up the works, Mr. Siddarmaiah said.
DKPCC president D.K. Shivakumar announced that KPCC would pay a compensation of ₹11 lakh to the family of Santosh. Our local leaders will hand over a cheque for the amount in a few days. This will be distinct from the assistance that individual leaders may extend to Patil’s family, Mr. Shivakumar said.
