Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has hotly denied the claim made by former minister V. Srinivasprasad that he had met BJP patriarch L.K. Advani in 2006 after his exit from the JD(S), in an attempt to become CM. Mr Siddaramaiah claimed he had only met Mr Advani when he (the BJP leader) was in the Janata Party.
The CM was speaking to mediapersons at Mysuru airport on Thursday. He said, “Mr Srinivasprasad doesn’t have valid reasons for joining the BJP and hence he is making such statements. He used to criticise Mr Yeddyurappa (BJP state president) and the BJP,” he recalled.
He recalled Dalit icon Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s statement, ‘I am born a Hindu but I cannot die a Hindu,’ and said Ambedkar had strived to reform the caste system but had failed and so embraced Buddhism. “So he was never pro-Hindutva,” Mr Siddaramaiah said indirectly attacking Mr Srinivasprasad, a Dalit leader, for cosying up to the BJP.
The Chief Minister disclosed that the Prime Minister had given him an appointment at 7 pm on Friday. “Karnataka has been facing continuous drought over the past four years and this year has been worse. We have already sought drought relief to the tune of Rs 4702 crores, and Rs 184 crores for relief to flood affected areas. We plan to seek more support. As per the demand from farmers and opposition parties, we will also request the Centre to waive the loans of farmers. We will also discuss having NEET exams in Kannada. The concerned authorities have already agreed. We are hoping that they will consider it,” he said.
Asked if demonetisation would have an impact on the state budget, he said, “The effect of demonetisation is yet to be assessed as the Income tax figures are available only till November. The Budget as usual will be presented in March.”
