From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, May 31: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday asked BJP opposition leader R Ashok whether he has forgotten police being forced to remove their uniforms and wear saffron under BJP rule.
Speaking to media persons at Kanakapura, he ridiculed the BJP leader’s statement that the time has come to give protection to police stations.
Shivakumar said Ashok, who had served as Home Minister under senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, should remember what happened under BJP rule.
The Deputy Chief Minister reminded Ashok that police were forced to remove their uniforms and wear saffron during festivals in the police station itself.
He questioned the BJP leader as to why the party is waiting to launch its agitation demanding resignation of minister Nagendra over the alleged misappropriation of funds in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation after June 6 demanding the resignation of the Youth and Tribal Welfare Department Minister B Nagendra over the suicide by a Superintendent alleging Rs 87 crore fraud.
“BJP is free is launch its agitation now itself. They need not wait till June 6,” he said and made it clear that the Congress government will not cow down to such threats as a CID probe has already been ordered.
Asked about former BJP minister K S Eshwarappa’s statement that Minister Nagendra must resign owning moral responsibility as he himself had done when a contractor had committed suicide, Shivakumar said the two cases were entirely different.
“The government has immediately ordered a CID probe unlike the case in Eshwarappa episode, who had refused to resign and was finally forced to quit,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the officer, who had committed suicide has left a death note blaming the Managing Director of the Valmiki Corporation of looting Rs 87 crore and he has not blamed the minister or the department.
“Let the CID investigation be conducted and we will wait for the preliminary report. Action will be taken after verifying the facts,” he said making it clear that “there is no question of protecting anybody.”
Shivakumar, who is also the KPCC President, said Congress party candidate Ramoji Gowda will win in the Bengaluru Graduates Constituency for the Legislative Council. All other party candidates in the Council polls will win, he claimed.
He said the BJP-JDS candidate A Devegowda, had earlier contested on JDS ticket and lost. Just because he is the candidate of the BJP-JDS alliance, will not make any difference, he said.
Replying to questions, he said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and himself have submitted a list of probable candidates for the Council seats from the State Assembly and it is left to the party high command to take a decision.
Shivakumar said he knows that his political opponents have undertaken yaga in Kerala against him and the Congress government and asserted that he knows as long as people support the government and he has the blessings of god, nothing will harm us.
He refused to comment on the arrest of the Hassan JDS MP Prajwal Revanna, who was absconding for over a month and had gone abroad following the lodging of the Hassan sex scandal involving rapes and sexual abuses against multiple women by pointing out that the SIT is conducting its investigation. “I have no comments,” he added.