K J George not my shishya, not shielding him: Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: While denying that Bengaluru Development Minister, K J George, was  his “shishya” (disciple) and he was shielding him as alleged by the BJP,  Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday ruled out dropping him from the Cabinet or seeking his resignation just yet.

The BJP has been demanding Mr George’s resignation following the recent case registered against him by the CBI investigating the suicide of deputy superintendent of police, M K Ganapathi.

But speaking to reporters here, the Chief Minister argued that state BJP chief B.S. Yeddyurappa should tender his resignation first instead of targeting the minister as he had confessed in his affidavit filed during elections that he himself was facing charges of forgery and denotification of land. 

“Instead of demanding Mr George’s resignation, he must first  resign from parliament. The BJP is using the M K Ganapati case for its political ends. How can Yeddyurappa continue as state president of a national party when he is facing so many cases?" he demanded.

Quoting a Kannada proverb, Mr Siddaramaiah added, “When a rat has fallen on the BJP's plate it is trying to point at a fly on the plates of others.”

Pointing out that merely filing of a First Information Report did not mean someone was guilty, he said it was normal for an FIR to be filed as soon as a complaint was received. “Just because the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against Mr George it does not mean  he is guilty and its not proper to demand his resignation at this juncture. I am protecting Mr George but only going by the law of the land. Besides, he had once resigned as minister despite my advising him not to,” he recalled.

Asked about state JD(S) chief, H D Kumaraswamy too supporting this viewpoint,  the CM said it did not mean  he was batting for the minister as alleged. While claiming that he was not aware of the Friday night meeting between the JD(S) leader and Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, he acknowledged that the two could have met as they were both a part of the legislature committee looking into irregularities in power purchase deals of the last BJP government in the state.