HUBBALLI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reiterated his charge that the BJP is trying to get Energy Minister D K Shivakumar into its fold by pressuring him through Income Tax raids.
He told reporters at the airport on Thursday that Shivakumar is a born Congressman. He will not bow down to the pressure being exerted by the BJP. “In fact, many BJP leaders are in touch with the Congress. But they will not be welcomed into the party as some of them have RSS background. They are all trained in communalism,” he added.
Lashing out at the BJP on Tipu Jayanti issue, he said BJP leaders are hypocrites. “When they were in power, they dressed like Tipu. Now, they are opposing the celebration of Tipu Jayanti. The jayanti is being celebrated by the government and we will not tolerate anyone taking law into their hands,” he said. “The BJP leaders are opposing Tipu Jayanti just to garner votes. They don’t have any moral right to criticise the celebration. The government has taken a decision to remove the names of BJP elected representatives from invitation cards of Tipu’s birth anniversary celebrations,” he said.
Commenting on the ongoing agitation for separate religion status for Lingayats, he said the state government can only send a recommendation and it has not yet reached that point. The chief minister refrained from commenting more on the matter.