BENGALURU: On a day when Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was celebrating completing one year in office, Congress leaders took to the streets to protest the BJP’s alleged attempts to topple the party government in Rajasthan, and reiterated their demand for a probe into alleged irregularities in the state government’s medical equipment purchases .The rally to Raj Bhavan, led by Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and state Congress unit president DK Shivakumar, was stopped by the police, who took the leaders into custody near Balekundri Circle, only to release them later.
Siddaramaiah accused Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra of being part of the BJP’s conspiracy, and urged him to resign. “The BJP is destabilising democratically elected governments. They did that in Madhya Pradesh and are doing it in Rajasthan too. They did it in Karnataka in 2019 to gain power,” he said.Congress leaders submitted a memorandum seeking the President’s intervention into the developments in Rajasthan. They reiterated their demand for a probe into the alleged irregularities in purchase of medical equipment.
Shivakumar said the state government has not achieved anything in the past year, and that people in flood-hit areas are still awaiting financial assistance. Now, citizens need help due to the pandemic.Hitting back at the Opposition, BJP state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel said the Congress has no right to speak about democracy. Referring to the Congress’ ‘Save Democracy’ campaign and its allegations against Governor Mishra, he said governors appointed by the BJP have been functioning impartially. Congress leaders were slammed for not adhering to Covid guidelines during the rally. “This shows their lack of concern for people,” said Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.