HUBBALLI/HAVERI: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the Congress in Karnataka was collecting Rs 700 crore from liquor shop owners to fund the party’s election campaign in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said, “It is nothing new for PM Modi to lie... but lies of this scale bring great disgrace to the office of the PM.” Siddaramaiah was responding to the media at Hubballi Airport on Sunday.
On Modi’s claim that Karnataka Excise Department was diverting Rs 700 crore to fund the Congress election campaign in the neighbouring state, the CM asked where would the Excise Department even find Rs 700 crore. “Someone at the level of the PM should not lack this kind of understanding,” the CM said.
On future actions against former CM BS Yediyurappa and former minister B Sriramulu based on a report by the Justice John Michael D’Cunha Commission, the CM said, “Let the report first come before the Cabinet. Then a decision will be made.”
Responding to former CM Basavaraj Bommai’s statement that the BJP will not be intimidated by the so-called “empty threats” in the report, Siddaramaiah asked, “How can the commission’s report be considered an empty threat? Looting public money and then calling it an empty threat, how is that possible?” Reacting to Yediyurappa’s claim that there was an attempt on his life during a Congress government term, Siddaramaiah asked, “Why didn’t Yediyurappa file a complaint or register a case back then?”
Meanwhile, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has hit out at Justice John Michael D’Cunha , who is investigating the purchase of PPE kits, saying, “You are a judge, not an agent”. Speaking at a public meeting organised by BJP candidate Bharat Bommai in Shiggaon, Joshi said, “Justice John Michael D’Cunha has always been against us. Why should an interim report be issued during election time?
What has this government been doing for a year and a half? This is merely a ploy to divert public attention. There is no substance here. Siddaramaiah, you claimed you consumed Rs 90 crore, not Rs 190 crore, in the Valmiki corporation scandal. No matter how much one consumes, it is all the same. Such tactics will not work to cover up the accusations against you.”
Joshi questioned Siddaramaiah, “You criticise Basavaraj Bommai in Shiggaon for not providing a single house, yet we have built new homes across Shiggaon and Savanur. Have you provided even one?”