Mysuru, Apr 1: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday defended his son Yathindra's statement targeting Amit Shah, which the BJP has termed as reprehensible and a personal attack on the Union Home Minister and lodged a complaint with the Election Commission.

Siddaramaiah said his son never intended to insult Shah and his statement was based on CBI's submission in the court.

Addressing a party meeting in Hanur town of Chamarajanagar district last Thursday, Yathindra, a former MLA, allegedly said: "Home Minister Amit Shah is a goonda, rowdy, there was a murder charge against him in Gujarat and he was exiled, and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi did politics keeping such people next to him....".

A day later, the Karnataka unit of the BJP filed a complaint with the poll body describing the statement as a personal attack on the party leader and alleged that Yathindra had used "abusive and inflammatory language" against Shah. It said the statement violated provisions of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

ALSO READ: BJP complains to poll officials on political activities in offices of K'taka Ministers, MLAs

Speaking to reporters here, Siddaramaiah said: “Yathindra has given a statement based on the CBI report in the court. Is the CBI report to the court right or wrong? Based on the CBI’s submission to the court he has said it. He has no intention to insult Amit Shah."

The BJP also alleged Yathindra’s statement reflected his upbringing. Responding to this, Siddaramaiah said it is the BJP which does not know "Samskara" (culture).

On BJP’s claim of winning 400 seats across the country in the coming Lok Sabha elections, the Chief Minister said: “You know why (BJP is saying this), because they will get less than 200 seats. They have done a survey. Their tally is less than 200, so they are strategically saying ‘400’ (seats).”

Asked how many seats that the Congress will win nationally, Siddaramaiah said he has no information about his party’s target, but he is confident that the outfit would bag up to 20 seats out of the total 28 in the State.

Get all the latest, breaking news from Karnataka in a single click. CLICK HERE to get all the latest news from Karnataka.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Davangere: Reports state that two groups engaged in stone pelting at each other during Ganesha idol immersion ceremony in Davangere on Thursday. Two police personnel were injured in the incident.

Few days ago, two groups of youth engaged in verbal altercation regarding raising of a flag for Eid Milad celebration. On account of the clashes, police had heightened security for the Ganesha procession. Despite the additional security, stones were pelted at the procession, sources stated. Inspector Gururaj and constable Raghavendra were injured in the incident. The procession continued after the police brought the situation to control. However, the stone pelting resumed once again as the procession surged forwards.

Security has been tightened up in the area and all shops have been closed down by the police. The two police personnel, who were injured in the stone pelting, are undergoing treatment at a hospital.