Siddaramaiah dares BJP to order judicial inquiry into scams taken place in 16 years
Gundlupet, Oct 1: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday challenged the BJP government in the state to order a judicial inquiry against the alleged corruption that took place in the last 16 years, including five years of his tenure.
Attacking the BJP in a press conference, the Congress stalwart said when he was the Chief Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2018 had alleged that there was a '10 per cent commission government' in the state without assigning any documentary evidence.
Now, the head of a civil contractors' body Kempanna has alleged that the ministers in the BJP government were demanding 40 per cent commission on public works.
"Kempanna is saying, 'Form a judicial commission. We will produce the relevant document. If we fail to prove our allegation, you take any action against us.' Why are you not doing it, if you are honest?" Siddaramaiah sought to know.
The Congress leader said when he was the chief minister and the BJP was at the Centre, eight 'allegations' were handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
He wondered why the incumbent BJP government has not handed over the case related to the commissions charged by state ministers to the CBI yet.
"The BJP says corruption took place during the Congress rule in the state. I challenge them to order a judicial inquiry to investigate all the cases that took place in the last 16 years in which BJP was in power for 10 years. But they (BJP) don't have the guts to do so," Siddaramaiah said.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
