Siddaramaiah, Kumaraswamy engage in war of words ahead of Karnataka bypolls
Bengaluru, Sep 24: A political slugfest has erupted between former Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy with the two leaders blaming each other for the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka.
The unease that existed between the former alliance partners ever since the fall of the alliance government in July has now come out in the open with the announcement of bypolls for the 15 Assembly constituencies, in which both parties will go it alone.
"Kumaraswamy does not speak with sense. G T Devegowda who is JD(S) MLA and was minister in his cabinet has recently said that Kumaraswamy had asked him to get votes transferred to BJP candidates in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar (during Lok Sabha polls)," Siddaramaiah told reporters in Hubballi.
"Now he (Kumaraswamy) is playing drama... because byelections have come he is into theatrics," he added.
The Congress leader was reacting to Kumaraswamy's comments blaming local Congress under Siddaramaiah's leadership for the defeat of his father H D Deve Gowda in Tumakuru, son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya and for the defeat of Congress' own candidate K H Muniyappa in Kolar.
Referring to a popular Kannada song in which a parrot nurtured by its owner goes on to betray and inflict pain on him, Siddaramaiah in a tweet chided Kumaraswamy and said,"... it is my mistake. Despite having four decades of political association and experience, we believed eagle as parrot and allied with it. Will it not inflict pain? What is bigger lesson than experience?"
Seeking to turn the tables, Kumaraswamy squarely blamed Siddaramaiah for the collapse of the government alleging that the CLP leader was unable to fathom the fact that the JD(S) leader had become the Chief Minister of the coalition government.
"I did not become Chief Minister because of Siddaramaiah, Congress high command took the decision. But Siddaramaiah could not tolerate their decision, or else this government would not have gone," Kumaraswamy said in Channapatna.
"He had told his party MLAs that he will not allow the coalition government to continue even for a second after the Lok Sabha polls," he added.
He also hit back at Siddaramaiah for his tweet and said that the senior Congress leaders along with others had betrayed Deve Gowda who "nurtured them politically".
"What was the reason for the collapse of the government, don't I know what all happened. I'm not a parrot nurtured by Siddaramaiah, people of Ramanagara have nurtured me, it is because of them I have grown in state politics," he said.
Last month JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda and Siddaramaiah had exchanged barbs, holding each other responsible for the collapse of the coalition government.
Absence and resignation of 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs during the trust vote had led to the collapse of the Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July, and helped BJP come to power.
After examining the petition moved by leadership of both parties, the then Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar had disqualified 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law, which they have challenged in the Supreme Court.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced that byelections to constituencies represented by 15 out of 17 disqualified former Congress-JD(S) legislators will be held on October 21 and results will be declared on October 24.
ಹೌದು, @hd_kumaraswamy ಅವರೇ,
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 24, 2019
ನಾನೇ ನಂಬಿದ ಗಿಣಿಗಳು ಹದ್ದಾಗಿ ಕಾಡಿದ್ದು ನಿಜ. ನನ್ನದೇ ತಪ್ಪು,
ನಾಲ್ಕು ದಶಕಗಳ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಒಡನಾಟದ ಅನುಭವದ ನಂತರವೂ ಹದ್ದನ್ನು ಗಿಣಿಯೆಂದು ಭ್ರಮಿಸಿ ಮೈತ್ರಿ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡೆವು.
ಕುಕ್ಕದೇ ಬಿಡುತ್ತಾ? ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕಿಂತ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಪಾಠ ಏನಿದೆ ಹೇಳಿ?@INCKarnataka
ಸನ್ಮಾನ್ಯ @hd_kumaraswamy ಅವರೇ, ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನು ನಾನು ಸಾಕಿದ್ದೇನೆ ಎಂದು ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದೆ?
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 24, 2019
ನಿಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಸಾಕಿದ್ದು ದೇವೇಗೌಡರು (@H_D_Devegowda), ಬಳಸಿಕೊಂಡದ್ದು ಮಾತ್ರ ನಮ್ಮಂತಹವರನ್ನು.
ಬಳಸಿ ಬಿಸಾಡುವ ಪಾಠವನ್ನು ನೀವು ಬಹುಬೇಗ ಕಲಿತುಬಿಟ್ಟಿರಿ.
ಈ ಬಗ್ಗೆ @BSYBJP ಅವರನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿ,ಹೇಳ್ತಾರೆ.
3/1
ಸನ್ಮಾನ್ಯ @hd_kumaraswamy ಅವರೇ, ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಕೂಡಾ ಬೆಳೆಸಿದ್ದು ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಜನತೆ.ನಮ್ಮ ಪಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ಜನ ನೀಡಿದ ಆಶೀರ್ವಾದದ ಬಲದಿಂದ ನಾನು 5 ವರ್ಷ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದೇ ಹೊರತು ಯಾವುದೇ ಹದ್ದು-ಗಿಣಿಗಳ ಹಂಗಿನಿಂದಲ್ಲ. @INCKarnataka
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 24, 2019
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ಬೇರೆ ಪಕ್ಷಗಳ ಹೆಗಲ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೂತು ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಯಾದ @hd_kumaraswamy ಅವರೇ,
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) September 24, 2019
ನೀವು ಸ್ವಂತ ಬಲದಿಂದ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಯಾಗಲೂ ಎಂದಾದರೂ ಸಾಧ್ಯವೇ?@INCKarnataka
3/3
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CCTVs in police stations: SC asks amicus to convene meeting on utilisation of funds
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that a meeting be convened on May 6 to deliberate on the aspect of utilisation of funds by the states on installation of CCTVs in police stations across the country.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, who is assisting it as an amicus curiae in a suo motu matter concerning lack of functional CCTVs in police stations, to hold a meeting on May 6 with the Centre, all states and Union Territories.
"We are of the view that a meeting be convened by the amicus, as done earlier, in which the home secretary of the central government or his nominee not below the rank of joint or additional secretary and the home secretary of states/Union Territories will participate," the bench said.
The issue cropped up after the amicus flagged the aspect of utilisation of funds by the states.
Dave told the bench that in UTs, the Centre gives 100 percent funds while in hilly states, the central government gives 90 percent funding.
He said in remaining states, the Centre gives 60 percent while the rest 40 percent funding is by the respective state.
"Why don't we get responses of the states only on utilisation of funds?" the bench said.
The top court suggested that the amicus can convene a meeting with the Centre, states and UTs on the issue.
It posted the matter for hearing on May 13 and said that a report be submitted before it.
On April 7, the Centre told the top court that all issues concerning installation of CCTVs in police stations would be sorted out within two weeks.
Attorney General R Venkataramani had told the bench that he was taking stock of the issue and a lot of things were happening.
On February 26, the apex court directed the Centre and others to participate in a meeting to deliberate upon the feasibility, modalities and implementation framework of the issues, including creation of a centralised dashboard and standardisation of CCTV infrastructure in police stations.
The top court had earlier directed registration of a suo motu case over the lack of functional CCTVs in police stations after taking cognisance of a media report.
The apex court had in 2018 ordered the installation of CCTV cameras across police stations to check human rights abuses.
In December 2020, the top court directed the Centre to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
It said that states and UTs should ensure that CCTV cameras were installed at every police station, at all entry and exit points, main gate, lock-ups, corridors, lobby and reception, as well as in areas outside the lock-up rooms so that no part was left uncovered.
The top court said that CCTV systems must be equipped with night vision and have audio as well as video footage.
The court made it mandatory for the Centre, states and the UTs to purchase such systems which allow storage of data for at least one year.
