BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka on Saturday accused Deputy CM D K Shivakumar of resorting to “vendetta politics” against Opposition parties. But Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is not bothered as he will be stepping down from his post, he said.
Referring to the alleged attack on senior BJP leader C T Ravi and high-handedness by the police, Ashoka indirectly said this has happened at the behest of Shivakumar who wants to become the CM.
“As he (Siddaramaiah) was not the one who used to be, the ministers went out of his control. Shivakumar, in order to impress the Congress high command, has been snubbing the voice of the Opposition. In the Maharishi Valmiki ST Development Corporation scam, B Nagendra resigned, and the next will be Siddaramaiah,” he said at a joint press conference in the Vidhana Soudha.
“The Ravi episode is akin to the ‘rakta charita’ movie -- an Andhra Pradesh model of governance. Congress worked to snub and confront the Opposition. The CM is not bothered about anything as whatever the ministers have done is the law.
He is not the Siddaramaiah of the past now. It is all a game played by Shivakumar with the aim that if the BJP is snubbed, he will get the blessings of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and he may become the CM soon. Which was why he was doing all this,” he alleged.
He took strong exception to the police taking Ravi, who received threats from naxals, to sugarcane fields and stone quarries, on the pretext of his (Ravi’s) safety.
“Some people hide in forests and quarries for safety because there are animals there, and no one comes there. The commissioner said it was for his safety. Was it safe? Will the animals around take care of one. The police found a new way of safety. There is a place called Parappana Agrahara in Bengaluru that is safe,” he said.
He suggested that the CM and ministers should be taken to the sugarcane fields and quarries and leave them for their safety. Replying to Shivakumar that he would have taken action if his party leader had done something like Ravi, allegedly badmouthing minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, Ashoka hit back saying that there were umpteen cases, including rape charges, against Congress leaders.
“An MLA has been accused of bribery, policeman Parashuram committed suicide after being asked for money and many cases have been registered. Why was no action taken?” he asked.
LoP in the council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy also said Shivakumar has become the power centre in the government. He rued that the issue of multi-crore scam in the tenders called in the Raichur thermal power plant could not be discussed in length.