BENGALURU: Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said speculation on a change of guard in the state is irrelevant. “I will not comment on the debate on change in the chief minister’s post as the matter is irrelevant now,” he told reporters when his attention was drawn to some religious heads reportedly wishing him to be the CM.
On praises heaped on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at a Kuruba event in Tumakuru on Saturday, he said, “If truth be told, what is the point of praising? Isn’t it true that Siddaramaiah presented 16 budgets? He has achieved economic harmony in the state despite giving five guarantees. If one thinks this is sycophancy, let it be.”
Asked about minister Satish Jarakiholi’s statement that it would take more than a year to implement the ‘caste census’ report, Parameshwara termed it as the former’s personal opinion. “He has expressed his personal opinion. The cabinet will take a decision. I don’t see anything complicated about it,” he said.
On the attack on reformed gangster Muthappa Rai’s son Ricky Rai, he said who fired the shots will be known only after the investigation. “One cannot speculate on such matters. I don’t even know about the involvement of Rakesh Malli (a former Congress INTUC president),” he said.