Siddaramaiah set to break Devaraj Urs’ record as longest serving Karnataka CM
Mysuru (PTI): Set to surpass D Devaraj Urs as the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka on January 6, Siddaramaiah on Monday credited the historic milestone to the blessings of people.
Highlighting a key difference between himself and Urs, he said while Urs belonged to the ruling class, he hailed from the socially backward community (Kuruba or shepherd).
Addressing reporters here, he said, “With the blessings of the people, tomorrow late D Devaraj Urs' record of being the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka will be broken. The matter of pride is that I and Urs belong to Mysuru.”
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Asked whether he had ever imagined that he would ever break the record, he admitted that he had never imagined even becoming a Minister, let alone the CM.
“I had only thought that I will be an MLA after becoming the Taluk Board member. I have so far won eight elections. I lost two Parliament elections and two assembly elections. In my life, I have contested in 13 elections, including Taluk elections,” Siddaramaiah said.
On his comparison with Urs, he said, “Devaraj Urs was not socially backward. In fact, he was from a forward class, the ruling class. He was from a community which is less in population, but he was a popular leader.”
The Chief Minister said there is no comparison between him and Urs.
Noting that the era of Urs was different from the present, Siddaramaiah said Devaraj Urs contested elections by collecting money directly from the people.
“People gave him money and votes in 1962. Time has now changed,” he said.
To a query if there is any chance of breaking his record, Siddaramaiah said records are meant for breaking.
Using a sports analogy, he compared his feat to Virat Kohli breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record in cricket.
“I never said that no one will break my record. Someone may emerge to break my record of the longest serving Chief Minister or the one who presented the maximum budgets."
Siddaramaiah has so far presented 16 budgets.
On budget preparations, the Chief Minister said it will start after Makara Sankranti.
In response to another question on ‘Sadhana Samavesha’ (celebration of the achievement), Siddaramaiah said, "State Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda is planning something, but I don’t have any details as such. I will speak to him."
Regarding the cabinet reshuffle, Siddaramaiah said, "It has to be done. I will speak to Rahul Gandhi whenever he calls me. I have told him that I will speak to him in January."
Referring to the Ballari clashes, the Chief Minister said he would discuss it with State Home Minister Parameshwara on Tuesday.
When he was told that the firing took place reportedly from the gunman of Congress MLA Bharath Reddy, Siddaramaiah said, “Let the investigation be completed. We will get to know after the investigation is over.
Reacting to the BJP’s demand for a judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge, the Chief Minister said he will speak after the investigations are completed.
Regarding GST compensation to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said a grave injustice is happening to the state government.
“The state is incurring a loss of Rs 12, 000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore a year. Earlier, the Centre was giving the entire money for MGNREGA, which was started by the Manmohan Singh government. Now the Centre has repealed the MNREGA and introduced VB-G-RAM-G.
“Earlier, people were supposed to get 100 days work and right to livelihood was the fundamental right, but now that right has been snatched. It is totally wrong. It’s unconstitutional,” the Chief Minister said.
Under the VB-G-RAM-G, the Centre will pay 60 per cent while the state has to contribute 40 per cent, resulting in an expenditure of Rs 3,000 crore a year for the state government, he added.
He alleged that the Centre wants to destroy the scheme meant to support poor people.
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Experience comes when you play bigger teams in bilateral series: Rashid Khan
Chennai (PTI): Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan called for more bilateral series against stronger cricketing nations after his team signed off from the T20 World Cup on a high, defeating Canada in their final group match here on Thursday.
Afghanistan played some exhilarating cricket, going down to South Africa in a gripping second Super Over after the scores were tied, a humdinger that provided one of the early thrills of the World Cup.
However, the spin-bowling stalwart said Afghanistan could make significant strides if they get regular opportunities to compete against stronger cricketing nations.
"Couple of areas to improve, with the batting, the middle order got a bit stuck against the big teams, and then with the bowling the death overs. That comes when you play the bigger teams in bilateral series," said Rashid after his team defeat Canada by 82 runs, with him returning excellent figures of 2 for 19.
The stalwart said the side had arrived well prepared for the tournament and produced some breathtaking cricket, but admitted the narrow defeat to South Africa proved costly and remained a painful setback.
"We were well-prepared (for the tournament), we played some unbelievable cricket. The game against South Africa, that really hurt everyone. We had to win one of those (first two) games and see how the tournament unfolded. We'll take some positive things from this World Cup and look forward," he said.
With head coach Jonathan Trott set to part ways with the team, Rashid described the departure as an "emotional" moment for the side.
"I think we had some wonderful times with him. Where we are now, he played a main role. It's emotional to see him leave us, but that's how life is. We wish him all the best and somewhere down the line we see him again."
Ibrahim Zadran, who was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 95 off 56 balls, said it was satisfying to finally register a substantial score after two below-par outings.
"I enjoyed it, didn't play better cricket in first two innings, which I expect. Wanted to back my skills, really enjoyed it. Pressure was there, it's there all the time. I want to put myself in pressure situations and enjoy it," said Zadran.
"Wanted to play positive cricket, rotate strike and punish bad ball, create partnerships and this is what I have done."
