MYSURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday claimed that he is “spotlessly clean” and accused opposition parties of targeting him just because he is a mass leader from a backward community.
Participating in Congress’ Janandolana rally here, he said that he will remain honest in public life forever and asked people to stand by him in his hour of crisis. BJP and JDS tried and failed to fix him in the ST corporation scam and now they are trying to corner him and his family in the MUDA scam, he alleged.
Referring to the Quit India Movement against the British, Siddaramaiah said it’s time to launch a similar movement against the communal, casteist and authoritarian forces which hate leaders from backward communities holding top posts. They targeted the then chief ministers D Devaraj Urs, S Bangarappa, M Veera Moily and N Dharam Singh, the CM added.
Will continue to raise my voice for voiceless: CM
Siddaramaiah said communal forces also pulled down the governments headed by leaders from backward communities in the past. JDS leaders HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy failed to keep their promises made while forming coalition governments in the state.
Deve Gowda strongly opposed formation of the JDS-BJP government in 2006. Gowda and Kumaraswamy are now trying to destabilise the Congress government in the state using the Raj Bhavan route, Siddaramaiah said.
Recalling his four-decade journey in politics, he said he will not yield to the pressure tactics and conspiracies of the opposition parties. “I will continue to work for the development of Dalits, poor and the voiceless in society,” he added. On the opposition’s allegation of irregularities in the allotment of MUDA sites, he said that it is part of a conspiracy by some powerful lobbies to dislodge him as CM.
Siddaramaiah said that BJP and JDS leaders have no moral right to seek his resignation when 82-year-old Yediyurappa is facing a POSCO case and Vijayendra and Kumaraswamy are allegedly involved in many scams. Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka has obtained a stay order in the BR Kaval case. “I don’t believe in vindictive politics. If I had done vindictive politics, many leaders from opposition parties would have been in jail by now,” he said.
ASHOKA: WHY ARE YOU SCARED OF CBI PROBE?
Mysuru: Reacting to CM Siddaramaiah’s claim of maintaining a clean record throughout his public life, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka said, “If you’re truly clean and have not indulged in any corruption, why are you scared of a CBI probe?”