Karnataka: No-confidence falls flat, Siddaramaiah slams HD Kumaraswamy

Bengaluru/Belagavi: With Janata Dal(S) leader H. D. Kumaraswamy deciding to stage a walkout ahead of voting on the no-confidence motion of his party against the Siddaramaiah government, the motion was defeated in the Assembly by a voice vote on Tuesday.

Ridiculing the JD(S) move to walk out ahead of the vote, Mr Siddaramaiah said Mr Kumaraswamy had lost faith in himself. In his two-hour reply to the debate on the motion moved by the JD(S) on Monday, Mr Siddaramaiah asserted that the latter’s move was politically motivated and a futile exercise.

“His move is not even substantially backed by his own partymen. I know their names but I will not reveal them,” he remarked.

The CM said he had won the hearts of people of all strata of society due to various welfare schemes — Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya and the loan waivers. “This was proved when the ruling party wrested the majority of gram panchayats in the just concluded elections. Though these elections were fought sans party symbols, everyone is aware of the fact that the Congress won more seats,” he said.

Training his guns on Mr Kumaraswamy, the CM rationalised that a no-confidence motion was moved only in the rarest of cases like when the state faces a law and order crisis, financial instability or dissidence within the ruling party.

“It is not the case here, I think Mr Kumaraswamy has moved this motion to cover up dissidence in his own party. Most MLAs in the JD(S) trust me including his elder brother H. D. Revanna,” he caustically remarked.

The CM also said he was happy that the principal opposition party, BJP had reposed faith in the government by not backing the JD(S) no-confidence motion. Interfering at this juncture, leader of the opposition, Jagadish Shettar retorted that BJP knew when to move such motion and bring the government down.

The Congress has 123 MLAs in the 225-member Assembly, the BJP 44 and the JD(S) 40.

DKS involved in land deals to favour Laxmi Hebblikar?

A group of Congress and JD(S) leaders in Belagavi have taken on energy minister D.K. Shivakumar alleging that he was involved in controversial land deals to favour current State Women Congress chief Laxmi Hebbalkar.

Releasing land allotment papers to substantiate their charge, Congress leaders Shankar Munavalli and Babulal Bagwan alleged that Mr Shivakumar got big sites allotted to several family members and relatives of Ms Hebbalkar in prime locations in Belagavi when he was urban development minister in the state Cabinet in 2004.

Commenting on the allegations, Ms Hebbalkar admitted that Mr Shivakumar got sites allotted to many Congress leaders as Urban Development Minister in 2004 including Mr Munavalli.

She said Mr Munavalli too was allotted a big site in Belagavi by Mr Shivakumar. Considering the works of Congress leaders, the minister had allotted sites to them, she added rubbishing the allegations of Munavalli as false.