BENGALURU: Taking a dig at the Congress government over its internal turmoil, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka on Friday said Karnataka is not any “laboratory for the Gandhi family’s political experiments.”
He accused the ruling party leadership of being consumed by internal power struggles that is affecting governance in the state. “While leaders are engaged in a fight for power, key sectors are suffering. Infrastructure is crumbling, investments are slowing, and governance is collapsing,” Ashoka said.
Taking to X, Ashoka said Karnataka is paying the price for the “never-ending power tussle” between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar.
“We in the BJP have no interest in Congress’ internal battles. But when this never-ending ego clash begins to paralyse governance, it becomes our duty to speak. For more than 1,000 days, the state has seen a government that is distracted, divided and directionless. Now, the latest rumours of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge being ‘deployed’ from Delhi to fix Bengaluru confirms total leadership failure in the state,’’ he stated.
He told Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, “If two leaders can’t co-exist and work together, you send a referee from Delhi to run Karnataka? The people of Karnataka did not vote for a five-year factional wrestling match. They voted for a stable, functioning government.’’
Speaking to reporters later, Ashoka said the proverb ‘When two people fight, the third one benefits’ has come true as Kharge is also now making efforts to become chief minister. He said Kharge has asked for more time for discussions. If that happens, the CM change will be delayed further. By then, elections will be very close.
Just like in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the Congress will face total destruction, he said. Ashoka also criticised the CM’s earlier announcement to go on inspection tour of Bengaluru city once every 15 days. But he hasn’t done even one in three months. No preparations were made for the rain, resulting in lives being lost. “When people demanded justice for these deaths, he hid his own mistakes and took action against officials instead,’’ he said.
BJP state president BY Vijayendra said the government is facing a financial crisis and the administration has collapsed. They are not taking up any development work, and are instead busy making allegations against the Union government. “Congress MLAs from Karnataka are parading in Delhi most of the times,” he said.