Two days after Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar’s alleged brawl with the police, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah strongly defended his party colleague and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to exploit the incident for political gains.
“I am not at all embarrassed by Mr. Kashappanavar’s case,” Mr. Siddaramaiah shot back.
“There is no question of shielding anyone found guilty,” he said.
After a meeting with Union Minister for Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the MLA had not gone missing.
Replying to a question on why the MLA was absent from the Assembly session, the Chief Minister said: “Is every MLA attending the Assembly? Why are you singling out one member?”
The Chief Minister said the BJP had no moral authority to disrupt the proceedings of the legislature over the episode.
He said no one was above the law. Home Minister K.J. George was ready to make a statement in both the Houses of the legislature, but the BJP had stalled the proceedings by creating a ruckus. They did not want meaningful proceedings to be transacted in the House, the Chief Minister said.
