No development, corruption at peak in Karnataka, alleges BJP's Vijayendra
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra on Saturday lashed out at the Siddaramaiah-led government, alleging that there was absolutely zero development in the state while corruption was at its peak.
He said the BJP would continue to "expose" the state government and its "failures".
Listing a series of issues, the BJP chief said the Congress dispensation headed by Siddaramaiah had failed on multiple fronts, be it the Dharmasthala issue, the hate speech Bill, the Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede incident, the liquor policy or corruption-related cases.
Speaking to reporters here, Vijayendra alleged that corruption in the state had increased. There was a detection of Rs 14.5 crore of wealth from Sarfaraz Khan, who is considered close to Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan and is on deputation in the Karnataka Housing Department.
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He also referred to the alleged ST Development scam, which took place during the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
The Valmiki Development Corporation scam in Karnataka involved the misappropriation of around Rs 94 crore meant for Scheduled Tribes' welfare, with funds illegally transferred from Union Bank of India accounts to fake entities, implicating top officials, including former Minister Nagendra, in creating fake accounts and using funds for personal gain and elections.
"There is absolutely no development and there is highest level of corruption in Karnataka. There is zero progress and zero development,” he alleged.
Vijayendra further accused the state government of repeatedly blaming the Centre to “cover up its failures”, saying it claims that the central government is doing injustice to Karnataka.
Referring to the Hate Speech Bill passed by both Houses of the legislature in the recently concluded Assembly session in Belagavi, he alleged that the Siddaramaiah government was trying to suppress criticism and compared the move to the Emergency imposed in 1975 by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
"Why this hate speech bill? Because the Siddaramaiah government is unable to face the truth. They are trying to bring emergency. What happened in 1975 when Indira Gandhi brought emergency? the same policy has been followed by Siddaramaiah government. They are trying to attack media persons, they are also trying to stop social media users... They don't want any criticism," he said.
"We (BJP) are going to expose this Congress government, the failures of the Congress government, corruption of the Congress government. Corruption has gone to the peak," he alleged.
According to Vijayendra, investors were moving away from Karnataka due to what he termed the “anti-investor policies” of the state government.
Ather Electric scooters, Google and aerospace industries, which had earlier invested in Karnataka, were now moving away because of the state government’s "anti-investor policy".
"Youths are getting affected by this loss of employment. Inspite of this, nobody should question the state government. Is this democracy? Hence, we are questioning the state government and we want to expose this Congress government and its failures also," he added.
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Man City makes it six Premier League wins in a row with 2-1 victory against Nottingham Forest
Manchester (England) (AP): Rayan Cherki kept Manchester City's Premier League title challenge powering on with a late winner at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The France forward's 83rd minute strike secured a 2-1 victory at the City Ground to make it six league wins in a row for Pep Guardiola's team.
City is on an eight-game winning run in all and provisionally moved to the top of the standings — one point ahead of Arsenal, which was playing Brighton later on Saturday.
“Today is a big win,” Cherki told TNT Sports. “I'm proud of the team because this game is very complicated to win.”
It was Cherki's second goal in three games and fifth over all. He also provided an assist with an intricate pass to Tijjani Reijnders to put City ahead three minutes into the second half.
Omari Hutchinson equalized for relegation-fighting Forest, which was holding out for a crucial point until Cherki fired through a crowded box for the winner.
Guardiola looks like a man who believes his team is ready to regain the title it surrendered to Liverpool last season. He joined in the celebrations with the traveling fans after the final whistle — acting conductor as they celebrated wildly after another win.
