BENGALURU: Karnataka’s chief minister Siddaramaiah has directed the cyber crime division to investigate the sleazegate incident related to minister for primary and secondary education Tanvir Sait.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Siddaramaiah said that he had received an explanation from Tanvir Sait that he was merely scrolling down on all the messages on Whatsapp with regard to Tipu celebrations and had not committed any crime.
Tanvir Sait was caught on television scrolling down on pornographic content on his phone, while sitting on the dais during Tipu anniversary celebrations in Raichur on November 10. The BJP and JD(S) have been demanding his resignation.
“We cannot do whatever the BJP wants. He seems to have done nothing wrong on the face of it. After his explanation, I have asked the Crime Investigation Department to investigate the matter fully,” Siddaramaiah said.
He also said that he had not directly spoken to the party high command on the incident, but that Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara had given the details to the party leaders in Delhi.
Centre’s assistance sought
In a separate development, Siddaramaiah has sought Centre’s assistance as the North east monsoons also seem to have failed in the state. So far, nearly 139 taluks have been declared as drought hit due to failure of the monsoon rains. The kharif crops have also been hit in the region.
“The state has experienced shortage as well as excess of rains in several regions. We have sought Rs 4,656 crore for drought relief and Rs 380 crore due to floods from the Centre, in line with the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) guidelines. Our situation is pretty bad. A team from the Centre have already toured the areas to assess the situation. I am also writing to Prime Minister Modi in this regard,” he said.