Terming the allegations against Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and BJP’s State unit chief Nalin Kumar Kateel in the bitcoin scam as ‘baseless’, Mysuru Lok Sabha MP Pratap Simha on Sunday ruled out any possibility of change of leadership in the State and reiterated that the party will face the next Assembly elections with Mr. Bommai at the helm.
Mr. Simha told reporters in Mysuru that the Congress party had mounted an offensive against the ruling BJP by citing the bitcoin scam and was spreading propaganda against Mr. Bommai and Mr. Kateel. He accused the Congress of creating an ‘imaginary’ scam as part of their efforts to create hurdles for the next one-and-a- half years till the elections and prevent Mr. Bommai from providing a good administration.
But, however much they tried, the Chief Minister will not be replaced. The 2023 Assembly elections will be faced under Mr. Bommai’s leadership. This has been told by Union Home Minister Amit Shah also, the MP said.
Mr. Simha sought to know from the Congress leaders under whose leadership they would face the next elections – whether it would be Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah or Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President D.K. Shivakumar?.
He wondered how the Congress can blame the Chief Minister during whose tenure as Home Minister the alleged hacker Sri Krishna was arrested in a narcotics case. “Why are you accusing the person during whose tenure the accused was arrested?”, he sought to know before claiming that the alleged hacker had connections with the son of a Congress MLA.
The BJP Government will take the bitcoin scam seriously and take it to the logical end. The true colours of Congress leaders involved in the scam will be exposed, he said.
Mr. Simha accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of spreading rumours about the bitcoin scam and asked the Congress leaders to furnish evidence for the charges they were levelling. “Let the former Chief Minister provide details of the accounts from which the money has been hacked and transferred,” he said.
He claimed that the persons levelling allegations have not understood the nature of transactions in bitcoins and were spreading baseless rumours about change of Chief Minister and BJP’s State unit President.
Mr. Simha asked Mr. Siddaramaiah to instead talk to the Congress leaders in Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharasthra and prevail upon them to bring down the tax on petrol and diesel on the lines of the steps taken by the BJP-ruled States and ensure relief to the common man.
Mr. Simha also trained his guns on Congress leader Priyank Kharge for issuing statements against the BJP in the bitcoin scam.
