MANGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reiterated that the state government will not withdraw its decision to hold Tipu Jayanti on November 10.
“I see that there is opposition from various quarters of society to the celebration. If there is danger to peace and harmony due to the Tipu Jayanti, the government will tighten security and still hold Tipu Jayanti celebrations,” he said.
He spoke to reporters at the Mangalore International Airport soon after arriving from Bengaluru to inaugurate the Buntara Bhavana in Buntwal on Sunday. “We will not entertain the objections of the RSS to celebrate Tipu Jayanti,” he said. He brushed aside questions by reporters about suggestions to ban the PFI. He shot back saying, “Then we must also think about banning the RSS.”
Siddaramiah said his government will go ahead with the construction of the steel flyover in Bengaluru. He said, “When the BJP was in power in 2010, they had put forth the proposal for the steel bridge. When the Congress government announced this project in the 2014 budget, the BJP did a volte face,” he said. He denied that there was any corruption in the steel bridge project.
“All the procedures followed in the proposal and the line estimate of the project has been transparent. A tender has been floated. I think people who have no faith in the democratic tendering process have a problem with this project,” he added.
The state government is planning to fill up all the top posts in the state corporations and boards soon, he said. He added, “The recent arrest of four people wanted for the murder of RSS worker Rudresh has shut up critics against the government. The role of the PFI in this murder has not been established, and hence we will have to wait for the investigations to be completed.”