Illegal sand mining case: Hang our sons if guilty, says CM Siddaramaiah
Mysuru: Lashing out at his political opponents who had claimed that his son and the son of PWD minister Dr H.C. Mahadevappa were neck-deep in illegal sand mining, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said if the allegations were proved, “we will both hang our sons.”
“This is such a cheap comment, I have not seen worse people in my political career who make such comments,” he said reacting to the statement made by a senior BJP leader at the conclusion of Raitha Chaitanya Yathra in Mysuru on Sunday. The CM was speaking to mediapersons at Mysuru Airport after arriving to participate in a function at Suttur. On allegation that he had entered into a secret pact with his former mentor H.D. Deve Gowda to win the BBMP mayoral poll, he said, “We did not want communalists (read BJP) to come to power. In the five years they ruled BBMP, they borrowed Rs 9,000 crore and were involved in several scams. They failed to manage solid waste. They converted the Garden City into a garbage city.”
On the allegations that the Congress killed democracy by grabbing power despite winning only 76 of the 198 seats in BBMP, he said, “Did their (BJP’s) Operation Kamala indicate strengthening of democracy? How many times did they change their ministers, they are the ones who destroyed values in politics. There is no internal democracy in BJP, they do not believe in democracy at all.”
On the allegation by the BJP that he had not submitted any report on drought to the Centre, the Chief Minister said, “We explained orally the severity of the drought and presented a memorandum in the presence of Mr Yeddyurappa, Mr Ananth Kumar, Mr Sadananda Gowda, Mr Jagdish Shettar, Mr K. A. Eshwarappa, Shobha Karandlaje and Mr Pralhad Joshi. They did not utter a word in support of the state.”
On Cabinet expansion, he said a clear picture will emerge in a month.
‘Those who have gone to jail have no moral right to criticise me’
Referring to the BJP demand for waiver of farm loans, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “Let the BJP-led Union government waive Rs 22,000 crore of loans given by nationalised banks to 14 lakh farmers, we will think of waiving Rs 9,200 crore given to 21 lakh farmers through cooperative societies. These BJP leaders did not utter a word on waiving farm loans when we submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister on the drought situation and the Mahadayi project. What moral right do those who have gone to jail (read former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa) have to criticise me or my government?”
