BENGALURU: Taking a dig at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for accusing the BJP of attempting to poach 50 Congress MLAs with an offer of Rs 50 crore each to pull down the government, Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy demanded that the government order an SIT probe into the charges.
He said Siddaramaiah’s statement had given accurate figures on the number of legislators lured with the Rs 50-crore offer. “When the government has set up an SIT probe into every issue, why don’t they probe these charges?” he asked.
Speaking to the media after offering special puja at Sri Chamundeshwari Temple here, he said the probe will throw light on all factors. Siddaramaiah, sensing trouble from the MUDA and Valmiki scams, is accusing BJP of luring Congress legislators, and making baseless charges to save his chair and mislead the ED probing the MUDA scam, he claimed.
Lashing out at minister Zameer Ahmed for racist remarks on his dark complexion, Kumaraswamy said it only shows Zameer’s culture. He clarified that he had never called Zameer ‘kulla’ nor was he called ‘kariya’, and their earlier friendship was for political reasons. He criticised CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar for defending Zameer Ahmed. “There are many instances of cases being registered and people being sent to jail. Why is the government silent on Zameer Ahmed?” he asked.
Kumaraswamy also said that former PM HD Deve Gowda had never used unparliamentary words against Siddaramaiah.
On the Channapatna by-election, Kumaraswamy said people had only blessings for the victory of Nikhil Kumaraswamy. Congress candidate CP Yogeshwara had analysed the election and clarified that Zameer’s statement had not made any difference as people had made up their minds to support Nikhil.
Differences continue with GT Devegowda
Even after the bypolls, differences remain between Kumaraswamy and JDS core committee chairman and MLA GT Devegowda. Presiding over a meeting on development works at Jaladarshini guesthouse, Devegowda did not turn up to receive party leader Kumaraswamy and stayed away from the function organised by the Tribal directorate.