BENGALURU: The Congress party’s allegations of misuse of power by the Narendra Modi government to crush political opponents attained a new pitch on Monday with Water Resources Minister MB Patil accusing the BJP-led government of tapping his phones for political reasons.
Patil said he also suspected that phones of senior ministers, including DK Shivakumar and KJ George, are tapped and would “expose’’ the undemocratic act. Similar charges had earlier been levelled by Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy and Bengaluru Development Minister KJ George.
The allegations coming in the backdrop of Patil’s lead role in the campaign for a separate religion for Lingayat community attains significance as any split in the strong Veerashaiva-Lingayat community is expected to hit BJP’s vote bank.
“I think my phone has been tapped for over a year and they have not even spared the phones of my family members and close associates. I have informed the Chief Minister about my concerns. However, we will continue to use the same phones as we have nothing to hide,’’ Patil said in Vijayapura.
Soon after the Income-Tax department conducted a series of raids on minister Shivakumar’s properties in August this year, the Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had accused the Modi government of misusing central agencies. Patil had stated that he is on the I-T department’s hit list and was likely to be raided.
With assembly elections scheduled early next year, Patil is at the forefront of the campaign for a separate religion status for Lingayatas. He is trying to position himself as a strong Lingayat leader within the Congress, who can dent BJP chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa’s support base in the community. Patil runs a number of educational institutions in North Karnataka.
AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka, KC Venugopal backed Patil’s allegation that Centre resorted to phone tapping of its political rivals. Speaking to reporters in Udupi, Venugopal said the BJP-led NDA government is allegedly misusing all constitutional bodies for its political gain and nobody has remained independent. KPCC President G Parameshwara too had earlier accused the Centre of using agencies for political reasons. “BJP wants to stop our progress and put hurdles. Their political intentions are clear,’’ the KPCC had stated.
Congress leaders trying to cover up their corruption: BJP
“The Central government has not misused any agencies. The Congress ministers are issuing such statements to cover up their corruption and also trying to mislead investigating agencies,’’ senior BJP leader and MP Shobha Karandlaje told The New Indian Express.
“Central agencies like Income Tax department and CBI are doing their work. I-T raids were conducted earlier during Congress rule also. It is not right to make such allegations against the Centre or the agencies,’’ she added.