After mocking Shah over illness, Cong MP B.K Hariprasad stokes another row
Bengaluru, Jan 18: A day after mocking Amit Shah over his illness, Congress Rajya Sabha member B K Hariprasad stoked another controversy Friday saying the BJP president was not suffering from 'swine flu'.
"We also know people in AIIMS. He has not been admitted because of the flu. Let me get the fact. Then I will get back to you," the MP said when asked by reporters what he meant by his 'pig fever' jibe.
When asked about the ailment of Shah if it was not swine flu, Hariprasad said that was the report he got.
To a question whether Shah was suffering from something else, he said, "I don't know."
Hariprasad also refused to retract from his remarks made Thursday despite furious reaction by the BJP which has demanded that the Congress sack him and tender a public apology.
"Whatever statement I made is there. I will talk to you later," he said, adding that he spoke in Kannada, which was his mother tongue and there was nothing wrong in that.
Speaking at a Congress protest in Bengaluru against the alleged attempt by the BJP to dislodge the Congress-JDS government in Karnataka by luring the ruling coalition MLAs, Hariprasad had said in Kannada,"As a few legislators have already come back, Amit Shah is shaken and has got fever. It is not a normal fever. It is swine flu."
He added that "You should know that if you try to destabilise the Karnataka government, not just swine flu, you will get vomiting and dysentery also."
Shah was Wednesday admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi for treatment of swine flu.
Union ministers, BJP leaders in the state and in Delhi had slammed Hariprasad and used his comments to attack the opposition party.
"The kind of ugly and indecent comments Congress MP B K Hariprasad have made about BJP president Amit Shah's health show the standards of the Congress. Flu is curable but it is difficult to cure Congress leaders' mental illness," Union minister Piyush Goyal had said.
Apart from Goyal several union ministers, including Rajyavardhan Rathore, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, had reacted sharply.
The Congress sought to distance itself with its spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi saying the party could never think of wishing illness to any BJP leader.
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Dalit officer alleges harassment by senior officials in Civil Rights Enforcement Directorate
Bengaluru: An Inspector of the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) has alleged that Dalit officers are facing harassment from senior officials within the department that is meant to handle cases of atrocities against SC/ST communities.
Inspector T.R. Srinivas has made the allegations in a letter addressed to DCRE Director General of Police Umesh Kumar, which he has also shared with the media. He has also released a video reiterating the claims.
In the video, Srinivas has named DCRE SP Karibasangouda and DySP Maheshwaragouda, alleging that he was pressured to act in favour of upper-caste accused in certain cases. He further claimed that false complaints were accepted against him and he was harassed in the name of inquiry.
Srinivas also alleged that he was not officially relieved from duty in DCRE, but that SP Karibasangouda and DySP Maheshwaragouda created “fake documents” showing that he had been relieved, which he said was in violation of an order of the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal (KAT).
He said he had served for 20 years without any adverse remarks, but is now being targeted. “Working for Dalits and serving in the police department itself seems to have become a mistake,” he said, adding that Dalit officers are not receiving protection in the state.
He also alleged lack of transparency in the department and claimed that decisions are being dominated by upper-caste officials. In the video, he appealed to the government to intervene and prevent any untoward incident, warning that if the situation continues, responsibility would lie with the Chief Minister, Home Minister and the DGP.
Srinivas had been transferred from the DCRE last month, but had obtained a stay on the transfer from the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal.
Meanwhile, DCRE SP Karibasangouda has denied the allegations made by Srinivas.
