Terming the Congress as a sinking ship, Minister for Co-Operation S.T. Somashekhar said that the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would make a few more holes in it to ensure that the ship sank quickly.
Addressing a press conference in Kalaburagi on Sunday, he said that party leaders deliberately made D.K. Shivakumar the chief of Congress unit in the State to ensure that the party collapsed under his leadership.
“Mr. Siddaramaiah has said that the BJP under B.S. Yediyurappa was a sinking ship. The fact, however, is that the Congress is sinking ship for which Mr. Shivakumar was deliberately made the captain. Mr. Siddaramaiah is longing to making a few more holes in the bottom of that ship to ensure that it sank quickly. We don’t do anything to damage the Congress. There are many in their party to do that job,” he said.
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To a question on BJP’s national general secretary Arun Singh’s recent warning of action to dismiss MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal from the party for his continued attack on Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Mr. Somashekhar justified it stating that crossing limits would naturally attract disciplinary action.
“One should work within the framework of the party. One has to face disciplinary action when one crosses the limits. It is applicable to Mr. Yatnal also. The party’s national leadership would look into the matter,” Mr. Somashekhar said.
When asked about the crisis-ridden Kalaburagi-Yadgir DCC Bank, Mr. Somashekhar said that the government had given ₹10 crore share amount and was ready to offer all possible assistance to revive the bank.
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“The present governing body of the bank is working well and loans of about ₹187 crore have been recovered. Our government is committed to reviving 21 DCC banks, including the one in Kalaburagi. We have set a target of lending around ₹20,000 crore to 30 lakh farmers this year,” he said.
Ministers B.S. Anand Singh, B.C. Patil, Shivaram Hebbar and Murugesh Nirani were present.