Bengaluru: Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah’s close aides - V.S. Ugrappa, H. M. Revanna and Basvaraj Rayareddy - together launched a scathing attack on JD(S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy for bringing up the wrist watch controversy.
Taking the debate on the watch row to another level, Mr Ugrappa dared Mr Kumaraswamy to reveal ‘in which house he stays.’ He was perhaps hinting at Mr Kumaraswamy’s second marriage to an actress, albeit in an indirect manner.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Ugrappa said, “Mr Kumaraswamy must clarify in which house he stays. Often, we hear that he keeps on changing his accommodation on a regular basis. He dares us to come to his house to assess what all he has but in reality, he stays in one place on one day, on the next day, he stays elsewhere.”
He said Mr Kumaraswamy must come out with his permanent address instead of making frivolous allegations against Chief Minister.
Mr Ugrappa contended that Mr Kumaraswamy, who is also known as a ‘hit-and-run leader,’ had remained tight-lipped about his son, Nikhil Gowda owning luxury cars and watches.
“He is known for planting false stories against his rivals. Mr Kumaraswamy’s recent allegations against Mr. Siddaramaiah are indicative of the fact that he is losing his mental balance,” he quipped.
According to him, Mr. Siddarmaiah was providing stable governance in the state, a fact Mr Kumaraswamy was not able to digest. Also the fact that Mr Siddaramaiah was fast becoming a more popular mass leader than him, was something worrying Mr Kumaraswamy and so he had launched a malicious campaign against the former.
“Mr Kumaraswamy must learn to keep his house in order instead of launching a smear campaign against Mr Siddaramaiah. He is a more disturbed leader than anyone else in this state, as he feels that if Mr Siddaramaiah remains in power for more time, he would not be able to rebuild his party(JD-S)),” he charged.
Cong slams BJP for not inviting CM to BIMA launch
Congress leader Basavaraj Raya Reddy on Sunday took potshots at Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the BJP for not inviting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the launch of Fasal Bima Yojana on Saturday in Belagavi.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Reddy charged that neither the BJP nor Mr Modi were firm believers in the federal structure of the country. "Not extending an invitation to Mr Siddaramaiah is tantamount to insulting the federal structure of the country. It is proved beyond doubt that BJP and Mr Modi are fascists," he said.
Mr Reddy slammed reports that Siddaramaiah would be replaced saying, “Media reports on a possible change of guard in the state are purely rumours.
There is not a single shred of evidence against Mr Siddaramaiah in the watch controversy so far, he has given clean and pro-poor governance. This has not gone down well with some of our political rivals, therefore, baseless allegations are being made against him. These allegations will not stand the scrutiny of law."
Former minister H.M. Revanna charged that Mr Modi, who had come all the way from Delhi to address farmers, did not talk about the Kalasa-Banduri project.
