Bengaluru: The city is drowning, its infrastructure is coming off at the hinges and eight lives have been lost over the last fortnight, including six on Friday night, but CM Siddaramaiah and BJP state chief BS Yeddyurappa chose to trade charges against each other on Saturday as they went around the city, visiting rain-affected areas and families of the deceased.
Yeddyurappa criticised the Siddaramaiah government, saying the chief minister has failed in his duty, and added that the people will teach the Congress-led government a lesson. "If the government had completed the stormwater drain works on time, such tragedies could have been averted," he said.
BJP leader Yeddyurappa meets Vasudev Bhat’s family
When questioned about these charges, Mr Siddaramaiah lost his cool with the reporters and said, "It is unfortunate that people have lost their lives. Priority should be to give relief to the affected and not play politics over deaths of people."
Mr Siddaramaiah visited the family of temple priest Vasudev, who was washed away in a stormwater drain, and consoled his wife and assured her a government job. The CM said that the government will bear the education expenses of the couple’s child.
When confronted by reporters after coming out of the victim’s house, he asked why only the Congress government should be held responsible for the rain havoc. “There are 100 BJP corporators in the BBMP... there are many union ministers representing the city. What about the mistakes committed by the previous BJP government?”
He walked away saying, “I am not here to play politics over the deaths of innocent people.”
Mr Yeddyurappa, who met the family of the mother-daughter washed away by rains, said that he was saddened by the deaths. “This only reflects how corrupt the Congress-ruled government is. People will teach them a lesson,” he said.
Mr Deve Gowda too visited the family and handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh. “The BJP is now blaming the Congress government for reducing Bengaluru to this state. But what were they doing when they were in power for five years before the Congress," he asked.
