Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Apr 14: Amid the row over Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah's son Dr Yathindra's company deciding to open a lab in government-run hospitals, allegedly in violation of the code conduct for ministers, health minister U T Khader on Thursday April 14 vehemently defended the chief minister and said the tender for the project was issued purely on the basis of merit.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme here, Khader said, "Opposition parties have no other issue to make noise about, so they are indulging in hate politics over this matter. This is nothing but cheap politics.
"There is no irregularity in the tender process as alleged. Technically it is right. Various committees were formed for the purpose which recommended Matrix Imaging Solutions company that is partly owned by Dr Yathindra. The recommendation was purely on merit basis and nowhere was there any pressure or favouritism," he said.
"It is not correct to unnecessarily create controversies. The opposition cannot tolerate the success achieved by the CM, hence it is levelling these baseless allegations without any proof, and creating needless confusion among people," he alleged.
Asked to respond to the criticism by senior Congress leader Janardhan Poojary on the issue, Khader said, "He is a senior leader, so it is not right for me to comment. Let some other senior leader respond to him.
"Dr Yathindra is a simple, sincere and humble man who never flaunts his position as the CM's son. He has genuine concern towards people and has never misused his father's office. Just because he is the CM's son, should he join politics?" he added.
On the violation of code of conduct for ministers, he said, "I do not know about the rules. Even the officers do not seem to know, because if they did, they should have mentioned in the tender document itself that the CM's son should not apply for the project. The tender for the lab was called as the previous company was not performing properly and people were suffering."