HOSAPETE: Although Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has taken the moral high ground on corruption by calling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders as "jailbirds", he was flanked by two men — who are out on bail — while addressing the Janashirvada Yatra here on Saturday.
New entrants to the Congress from the BJP — Anand Singh and Nagendra — stood behind Siddaramaiah. Both Singh and Nagendra are facing charges of illegally exporting iron one. They were in jail for months and are now out on bail.
The Chief Minister had strongly criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of corruption while being surrounded with BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa and former ministers Katta Subramanya Naidu and Krishnaiah Shetty in the recent Bengaluru rally. Siddaramaiah also often takes a dig at Yeddyurappa and BJP national president Amit Shah over the issue of corruption.
Even on Saturday, Siddaramaiah attacked the BJP over corruption.
A senior BJP leader told Express, "Siddaramaiah's memory may be short. He seems to have forgotten that both Anand Singh and Nagendra are also jailbirds. On what morality does he speak about corruption and target BJP leaders who have returned from jail".
The BJP leader also recalled the famous Bollywood dialogue — Jinke ghar sheeshe ke hote hain woh doosron ke gharon par patthar nahi phenka karte — while hitting out at Siddaramaiah.
Nagendra joined the Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi. Singh had joined the Congress just a week ago.
Sources in the Congress said that Siddaramaiah was inducting BJP leaders from Ballari district into the Congress to further tighten his grip over the party and ensure victory for the Congress.