A day after K.J. George stepped down from the Ministry following a magistrate court’s direction to file an FIR against him, the Congress on Tuesday mounted a counteroffensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah demanded to know why Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Bandaru Dattatreya, Uma Bharti, and 13 others in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, who were facing criminal charges with FIRs filed against them, had not resigned.
Addressing the media, Mr. Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president and Home Minister G. Parameshwara accused the Opposition party of “double standard” in seeking a CBI probe into the alleged suicide of Deputy Superintendent of Police M.K. Ganapathy.
The Chief Minister pointed out that over a dozen Ministers in the Centre are facing criminal charges and 13 cases have been booked against Ms. Uma Bharti, of which two are murder cases. Among the 19 newly-inducted Ministers by Mr. Modi, seven are facing criminal charges. While an FIR has been registered against Mr. Dattatreya following the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula, Ms. Irani has an FIR against her in an accident case wherein a doctor was killed.
“Do BJP leaders B.S. Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar have the moral courage to demand resignation of Union Ministers, now after Mr. George has quit on moral grounds?” the Chief Minister questioned.
‘George resigned voluntarily’
Claiming that Mr. George’s resignation was not owing to the Opposition’s agitation, Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Parameshwara said that Mr. George had voluntarily stepped down.
The Chief Minister said he and his party will shortly hit the streets at the taluk and district-level to expose the “moral bankruptcy” and “double standards” of the BJP leaders in the State.
He said Mr. Yeddyurappa, Mr. Shettar, and K.S. Eshwarappa have criminal cases. “Let these leaders introspect. These BJP leaders have no moral right to seek a CBI probe into Ganapathy’s death,” he said.
The Chief Minister reminded the BJP’s criticism of CBI as “Chor Bachao Institution” and “Congress Bachao Institution” when the latter was in power in the State. “Why is there a sudden change of heart towards the CBI now?” he asked. He claimed that the Congress government has ordered CBI probe into eight cases, including IAS officer D.K. Ravi’s death case.
Do BJP leaders B.S. Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar have the moral courage to demand resignations of Union Ministers against whom FIRs have been filed, now that K.J. George has quit on moral grounds?
Siddaramaiah,Chief Minister
