Villagers upset with Siddaramaiah for not meeting Lance Naik's family
Hubballi: Clearly disappointed with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for not taking time out for the family of Lance Naik Hanumantappa Koppad , who miraculously survived an avalanche in the Siachen Glacier and is now battling for his life in a Delhi hospital, the people of Betadur village are not buying his argument that he was not in time to meet them.
"The Chief Minister is wrong in saying that the soldier's family had left for Goa before he landed in Hubballi. He was busy campaigning for the panchayat elections in the afternoon when all the family members were still in Hubballi. On the other hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the hospital in Delhi to enquire about Hanumanthappa’s condition," said one Betadur villager, Kenchappa Somannavar.
The police also confirmed that the Chief Minister landed in Hubbali at 11.55 am on Tuesday when the Lance Naik’s family was still in the city until 1.15 pm and even participated in an hour long live discussion on a private news channel before heading for Goa by road in a private vehicle.
Mr Siddaramaiah was meanwhile resting in his hotel after visiting the site of the building that collapsed at the railway station, according to sources.
He later went to a Congress convention. It was only after the media highlighted his failure to meet the family did Mr Siddaramaiah take Kundagol legislator, C S Shivalli to task for not making immediate arrangements to help them go to Delhi, sources revealed.
While the state government made no arrangements to send the family to Delhi , it was Rajya Sabha member, Rajeev Chandrashekar , who bought air tickets for all six members and also met them personally in Delhi.
He made sure they were well taken care of at the Karnatak Bhavan and bore all their expenditure , including the fare for their return journey. Kundagol legislator, C S Shivalli, however, claimed he had bought the air tickets for the family.
Meanwhile, Dharwad district in-charge minister, Vinay Kulkarni, who accompanied the Chief Minister on his city rounds, said he was not able to visit the family as he was busy campaigning and promised to meet them after February 13 when voting will take place for the first round of the panchayat elections.
