Bengaluru: In a no-holds-barred attack against state BJP chief B. S. Yeddyurappa, working president of Pradesh Congress Committee, Dinesh Gundurao, on Tuesday likened him to the late Ugandan president Idi Amin, and accused the former chief minister of making baseless allegations of bribery against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Mr Rao told the media “I have been hearing these type of allegations ever since the steel flyover project was proposed” and dared Mr Yeddyurappa to exert pressure on the Union government to register a case against Mr Siddaramaiah or any other minister whom he had been targeting in political rallies.
“Why should Mr Yeddyurappa wait for more than 15 months to arrest any Congress leader when the Union Government is in complete control of agencies like Income Tax, Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). If the Union government has even a piece of evidence with it regarding corruption not only against Mr Siddaramaiah but against any ministers, then an inquiry by any of these agencies is possible. If any of us are found guilty, we can be arrested and sent to jail straight away. Instead, Mr Yeddyurappa is merely trying to gain political mileage by making false allegations,” he charged.
Mr Rao said the BJP leader often refers to entries in the diary of Congress MLC, K. Govindraju, but how could the leader access details of entries in the diary.
“Only two things are possible. Either the central agencies are selectively leaking information to Mr Yeddyurappa which means to say that Central agencies are compromised under Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, or these allegations are only fit to be termed as wild and baseless allegations against the Chief Minister," he added.
Mr Rao said the party would organize rallies titled “Satyameva Jayate - Truth Always Triumphs” to counter rallies held by BJP to protest against alleged bribery charges levelled by Mr Yeddyurappa against Mr Siddaramaiah. “We want to expose the lies of BJP and its leaders. Therefore, we are organising massive Satyameva Jayate - Truth Always Triumphs - on Thursday.”
Idi Amin remark angers BJP
Hours after KPCC working president Dinesh Gundurao compared BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa with former Uganda dictator Idi Amin, the BJP hit out at Mr Rao saying the Congress was desperately trying to divert focus from the corrupt practices of the Congress government.
“You should give respect to Mr Yeddyurappa’s age and seniority. It does not suit the stature of a young politician like you,” BJP general secretary Aravind Limbavali advised Mr Rao. While criticising Mr Rao, he maintained that the BJP remained firm on its charges of corruption made against the government.
