Questioning the BJP’s claims of CBI’s impartiality, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought to know the reason behind the Central investigating agency’s failure to carry out similar raids against BJP leaders.
Fielding queries from reporters on the raids carried out in the premises belonging to Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief D.K. Shivakumar and his brother D.K. Suresh, Mr. Siddaramaiah sought to know whether all BJP leaders were honest.
He referred to the alleged irregularities in the purchase of medical equipment to fight COVID-19 that he had raised in the Legislative Assembly and questioned why the BJP Government failed to carry out a probe in the regard.
“If their contention that they are not targeting anybody is to be convincing, such raids needed to be carried out against BJP leaders also,” he said.
Earlier in the day, KPCC spokesperson M. Lakshmana sought to know why no such investigation by Central agencies was being carried out against the company owned by Jay Shah, the son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Contending that the company run by the Home Minister’s son saw its bank balance multiply several thousand times between 2014 and 2015, Mr. Lakshmana said the absence of any probe in the matter shows the double standards of the BJP.
He accused the governments at the Centre and State of pursuing vendetta politics against Mr. Shivakumar, who he called a successful businessman with interests in real estate, power and educational institutions.
‘Yogi unfit to wear saffron robes’
Mr. Siddaramaiah also criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying he was unfit to continue in the post or don saffron robes.
Pointing out that there were a total of 27 cases that had been booked against Mr. Adityanath, Mr. Siddaramaiah said a rowdy sheet is opened against a person having just four to five cases. Mr. Siddaramaiah said the BJP should immediately dismiss him from the post to save the party’s reputation, adding that he was not fit to wear saffron robes.
Mr. Siddaramaiah recalled the support given by the then Congress government in Delhi to the family of Nirbhaya, who was also raped and killed in 2012. He said the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh had forcibly cremated the Hathras rape victim with the assistance of the police. The UP government had also misused the police to assault Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra.
