Daijiworld Media Network - Dharwad (SP) 

Dharwad, Nov 4: Union minister for parliamentary affairs, Prahlad Joshi, said that Siddaramaiah, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Congress leaders loyal to them could not digest the fact that H D Kumaraswamy had become the chief minister (CM). Now, after Yediyurappa became the CM, they are raking up minor issues to indulge in politics. 

He was speaking to media persons at Hubballi on Sunday November 3. 

He said that the issue of audio concerning alleged admission by Yediyurappa that disqualified legislators had defected from other parties with expectation of suitable rewards from the BJP, has been clarified by the state unit of the BJP and Yediyurappa himself. He therefore said that there is no need for other leaders to react. On Ramesh Jarkiholi's accusation that D K Shivakumar had engineered the fall of the state government, he said it is an internal issue concerning the Congress and that Ramesh, when in the Congress, would have got information about the above.  

Joshi said that the winter session of the parliament would be held between November 18 and 13, which will mainly handle two pending bills in the Lok Sabha and bills moved by several departments including finance. He said that a meeting has been called on November 5 to discuss these bills and that he would convene meeting of all parties after obtaining Prime Minister's permission. 

H D Deve Gowda, speaking at Hassan, said that BJP indulged in a move that is detrimental to democracy by luring legislators from other parties. He said that it is regrettable that both the Prime Minister and president, who are aware of the audio, have not yet reacted to the allegations. 

Health minister, B Sriramulu, said that possibly the controversial video tape cited above could be fake. He felt that Yediyurappa's voice would have been imitated by someone for creating trouble. He noted that the CM has already clarified the matter. 

Former minister, U T Khader, speaking at a press conference at Davanagere, urged to hand over the audio controversy to Central Bureau of Investigation for probe. He pointed out that the CM has confessed that the voice in the audio belongs to him. He said that union home minister, Amit Shah, too has to resign. 

To protest against the audio, Congress has decided to hold protest against the BJP in all the district headquarters in the state. The party has planned the protest to draw the attention of the Supreme Court to bring pressure on the dismissal of Yediyurappa-led government in the state and to       pressurize union home minister Amit Shah, to resign.