Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that the party high command has not sought any report or clarification from him about the controversy involving his eldest son Yathindra in the allotment of contract to establish private diagnostic laboratories in government hospitals.
In a chat with presspersons after inspecting the dried-up Bhima river at Kattisangavi village on the outskirts of Jewargi town in the district on Saturday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the press reports about the party high command seeking clarification on the issue was only speculative. He said that the entire process of allocation of the contract was done in a transparent manner and that there was nothing illegal in the allotment of the contract to Matrix Imaging Solutions India in which Dr. Yatindra, a pathologist, is a Co-Director.
He said that company had quoted the lowest price in the tender and was allotted the contract in a transparent manner. “No money transaction was involved, no external pressure was brought in…..and the establishment of the diagnostic facilities would reduce the cost of diagnosis of different ailments by 15 to 20 per cent, and the government would also get a return of 2 per cent of the total income”. Mr Siddaramaiah said that his son has decided to resign as the co-director of the company now.
Hits out at Yeddyurappa
On the declaration made by the newly appointed president of the State BJP and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa that he would make Karnataka free of Congress rule, Mr Siddaramaiah said that Mr. Yeddyurappa and the BJP leaders were living in a world of imagination and day-dreaming of unseating the Congress party in the State and declared that the Congress would come back to power with a bang in 2018 elections also.
To another statement of Mr. Yeddyurappa that more skeletons would tumble out of the cupboard of Chief Minister shortly (meaning more scams involving the Chief Minister would emerge soon), Mr.Siddaramaiah said that Mr. Yeddyurappa and BJP leaders have no moral right to speak about corruption and pointed out that Mr. Yeddyurappa still faced many corruption cases in different courts. “I am not perturbed by such hollow statements of BJP leaders”.
