BENGALURU: Union Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries Yediyurappa on Monday predicted that the Congress government will soon be counting its days, while former chief minister BS Yediyurappa insisted that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah put in his papers.
The alliance leaders, taking part in the BJP-JDS ‘Mysuru Chalo’ padayatra to demand Siddaramaiah’s resignation over his alleged involvement in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi by Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA), entered Ramanagara on the third day.
Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa stepped up their high-decibel attack against the government. “The Congress government is corrupt and its fall is imminent. I am no astrologer but Congress leaders will themselves bring down the government,” predicted Kumaraswamy. He took a jibe at Siddaramaiah, saying he has taken the help of cabinet colleagues and central leaders KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, who came from New Delhi to rescue him. “Our padayatra is historic and our relationship with JDS is eternal. We will form an alliance government by winning 150 seats during the next polls, for which we need people’s blessings,” Yediyurappa said. “By the time the padayatra reaches Mysuru, Siddaramaiah must resign, at least on seeing the huge support of ‘janatha janardhana’ (the people) and thousands joining the padayatra. The Congress high command should make him resign.”
“No CM in the state’s history has taken 14 sites in his wife’s name. The poor have no sites and jobs, and irrigation projects are at a standstill. Siddaramaiah has admitted that his wife was allotted sites in an upscale layout in Vijayanagar in Mysuru, and will return them if he is given Rs 60 crore in compensation. In Mysuru, over 2 lakh people will gather when the padayatra ends, and if you (Siddaramaiah) have any self-respect, resign from your post,” Yediyurappa thundered.
He claimed that corruption has skyrocketed, with two police officers falling victim to the Congress government’s demands for Rs 30-40 lakh for a transfer.
‘Law of land sent BSY to jail’
Hitting out at DyCM DK Shivakumar, who alleged that Kumaraswamy had sent Yediyurappa to jail in a land denotification case, Kumaraswamy attributed it to circumstances, and the law of the country. “I didn’t send Yediyurappa to jail, the law of the land decides who will go to jail,” he said. Responding to Shivakumar, who warned that he would expose the massive wealth amassed by Kumaraswamy and his family, the JDS leader said he has volumes on Shivakumar’s misdeeds.