‘Is your rule military, autocratic or Hitler's type?’
Pic: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Jun 3: A day after the state government employees went on a one-day strike and the police department personnel are heading towards protesting against the state government on June 4, former union minister B Janardhana Poojary came down heavily on chief minister (CM) Siddaramaiah. He questioned the CM saying, "Do you want the end of Congress in the state? You entered Congress seven years ago. The Congress party has fought for the country's independence. It has been partly built by the party workers. No one can put an end to Congress. Congress will be alive for as long as the party workers work for it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to wipe out Congress from India and you want to eliminate it from Karnataka. What is the difference between you and Modi?"
Poojary was addressing the press meet at district Congress office here on Friday June 3.
Speaking about the state government employees' protest the former minister said, "Nearly 6.5 lac government employees protested in the entire state demanding the implementation of 6th pay commission recommendations report. Although the report of the 7th pay commission report is already tabled in front of the government, the state government has not implemented the 6th pay commission recommendations report."
He enquired as to why the CM did not have any dialogue with the protesters.
About the police personnel holding a protest on June 4, Poojary said, "The Kerala government is paying a good salary to its police personnel even though the Karnataka government has a bigger budget."
On the enforcement of Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against Karnataka police protesters, Poojary added, "Is your rule military, autocratic or Hitler's type? The Indian constitution under Article 19 states that everyone has a right to protest. (Protesting is their right.) Do you not have advisers?"
Poojary also demanded that the government should implement the 6th pay commission recommendation, talk to the employees and police personnel and increase their salary.
Answering the media, Poojary stated that the CM is ignorant of Congress culture.
Kallige Tharanath Shetty, corporators Appi, Deepak Poojary and T K Sudhir were present at the meet.