Mysuru, Aug 7 (IANS): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that former Chief Minister and BJP Parliamentary Board Member, BS Yediyurappa should retire from public life after being charged in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act case at the age of 82 years.
He said this while hitting out at the BJP for seeking his resignation over alleged irregularities in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and allegations of corruption by the Opposition parties.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, CM Siddaramaiah said, “Yediyurappa has 15 to 20 cases which I will explain in the convention to be held in Mysuru city on Friday. Yediyurappa has been charged in a POCSO case and it is due to the mercy of the court that he has not been sent to jail as bail cannot be given in these cases. What morality does Yediyurappa have, if he is caught in a POCSO case at this age? The media won’t show much of it.”
“Yediyurappa should retire from public life. At the age of 82, he has misbehaved with a girl and a POCSO case has been lodged against him and the police have submitted a charge sheet, what moral right does he have to speak against me? First let him retire from public life then we will see about my resignation,” CM Siddaramaiah stated.
“If there is truth in the allegations, they can demand my resignation. In Yediyurappa’s case they took money through a cheque. He had de-notified government land. What have I done? Is there any letter, ordered by me? Is there any statement? As a matter of fact, my wife submitted an application in 2014 for compensation for the land. Being a CM, I told MUDA authorities that no alternate sites should be given to her,” CM Siddaramaiah said.
“She had again filed an application over encroachment of 3.16 acres of land by the MUDA in 2021. Until I was the CM, I had given directions that not a single piece of land should be granted to her. I could have made the land allotment as the CM. Didn’t I have the powers to grant her land? My wife submitted a second petition in 2021, when the BJP government was in power. How could I have influenced anything? They had given it as it was totally legal,” CM Siddaramaiah pointed out.
When asked whether he had got a fresh notice from Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot, CM Siddaramaiah stated, “One notice was served and we have answered it. I only know that the Chief Secretary is new and she has taken charge recently and in that backdrop she had met him. When she took charge, the Governor had gone to New Delhi. Hence, she had met him.”
When asked whether he was being targeted, the Karnataka CM maintained that the BJP and JD(S) were targeting him to weaken the state government and destabilise it.
“They tried to do ‘Operation lotus’ in which they failed, now they are up to it again. I am working for the poor, implementing guarantee schemes and they cannot tolerate it. They are against the guarantee schemes,” CM Siddaramaiah stated.
They are claiming from day one that they are against it and further stated that even if the guarantees are implemented they will stop it, he said and added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also made similar statements.
CM Siddaramaiah stated, “Our pro-poor and pro-SC-ST governance is making them fearful. If they go on spreading lies, they won’t be able to succeed. The truth always wins, the lies won’t stand.”
Asked whether the CM was successful in convincing the Governor, he stated, “My Cabinet’s reply and the Council of Ministers’ reply explained all this. I have faith that he will accept the legalities of the case. He is the head of the Constitution. As the land allotment is as per the Constitution, I have confidence that he will be convinced.”
When asked about the Governor meeting with PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, CM Siddaramaiah stated, “I assume he had gone to ask for funds for development of Bengaluru. Since he is the head of the Constitution, he will act according to the law. I have courage to face lies. The truth is going to win.”