BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader and MLC BK Hariprasad, who was denied a cabinet berth, on Saturday made a scathing but veiled attack on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah alleging that the latter has let down the Dalits, minorities and Other Backward Classes after assuming power.
However, he thanked Siddaramaiah for not inducting him into his cabinet, indirectly playing into the hands of the BJP which also did not want him to be a minister.
Hariprasad, indirectly referring to Siddaramaiah, alleged that the latter had met BJP patriarch LK Advani and dined with him to join the saffron party for which BJP leaders M Venkaiah Naidu and Arvind Limbavali were witnesses. “I have not done anything like that for power,” he quipped.
He sent a message to the Congress high command that if the party continues to ignore OBCs, Adivasis, Dalits and minorities by depending on Siddaramaiah, it will have to bear the brunt in the 2024 LS polls.
‘CM post tactfully denied to Parameshwara’
Hariprasad raised the issue of Dalit CM and said the post was tactfully denied to Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara although he deserved it. He was speaking at a convention of Billavas, Edigas, Namdharis and OBCs organised here under the leadership of Ediga community’s seer Pranavananda Swamiji. “The BJP had thanked the CM for not making me a minister. But now, I too from this platform thank him for not inducting me into his cabinet. If I was given a ministerial berth, I would not have met you (community members at the convention). Do not be under the illusion that I will be made minister or CM,” Hariprasad said.
He said that he will consider this (his non-induction into the state cabinet) as an opportunity to organise and strengthen the backward communities. Exhorting the community members to unite, he said that their presence is not restricted to Karnataka alone. They are spread across the country. They are in large numbers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Orissa and Chattisgarh under different names.
Hariprasad, who was recently made a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee, devoted most of his speech to attack Siddaramaiah. “You cannot reach the stature of former CM Devaraj Urs by just boarding the car used by him. You have to implement his ideas. You cannot be a Samajwadi just by wearing dhoti, khaki shorts and a Hublot wristwatch,” he said.
“Every now and then he (CM) takes Urs’ name, but did not consider his (Urs’) grandson Suraj Hegde for the MLC post despite my recommendation to him being a screening committee member,” he alleged.
During elections, many promises were made to leaders from Other Backward Classes, Dalits and minorities. But after coming to power, they were not even considered for nominations to government boards and corporations. KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi was denied the DCM’s post, Hariprasad said. Interestingly, Hariprasad was all praise for President Droupadi Murmu. He said she is a role model for the OBCs.
Siddaramaiah refused to comment on Hariprasad’s remarks as the latter had not mentioned his name. Meanwhile, Home Minister G Parameshwara said, “I thank BK Hariprasad for admiring me. Many people say that in my admiration. Ultimately, the party high command took the call and made Siddaramaiah CM and DK Shivakumar DCM.”