Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister, Dr C.N. Ashwathnarayana on Tuesday denied senior Congress leader, D.K. Shivakumar’s claim that the Union government was being vengeful and was using the Enforcement Directorate(ED) to force him to stay on in Delhi.
The former Congress minister had vented his anger at the Centre before the media in New Delhi on Monday, claiming it was denying him permission to return home even for an important festival and was “torturing” him as it was playing vindictive politics and wanted to finish him off politically.
He also took strong objection to claims that he was shedding “crocodile tears” to gain public sympathy and asserted that no one could threaten him using the Central investigative agencies as he was no political novice. Dr Ashwathnarayana shot back on Tuesday, contending that the country was transforming under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would not allow anyone to loot the people’s money. “There is no truth whatsoever in Mr Shivakumar’s statement about vindictive politics. If one has done something wrong, one has to face the law of the land,” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister, Govind Karjol, too hit out at Mr Shivakumar saying that that “one who eats salt, has to drink water”, meaning one has to pay for one’s actions. His comment angered Congress leaders, who came down on him for making such a statement when someone was neck-deep in trouble.
