Mangaluru: While many Congress leaders have been secretly expressing their unhappiness over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s manner of functioning, former KPCC president and senior Congress leader B. Janardhan Poojary has openly criticized the CM.
“Are you (Mr Siddaramaiah) trying to make Karnataka a ‘Congress free’ state? Mr Narendra Modi has been claiming that he wants to make India a Congress-free nation. Congress is the party that brought independence to the country and toiled for its development. You joined the Congress 6-7 years ago. Do you know the Congress culture? In the next election, people might make the state free of Siddaramaiah,” he quipped while speaking to reporters at a press conference. “Yesterday about 6.5 lakh government employees successfully held a protest, tomorrow policemen are planning a strike. What has happened to you? Can’t you have talks with government employees and the police instead of declaring that you will use ESMA against them? Is the state under martial law or is it Hitler rule? People have the freedom of speech and expression. They also have the right to hold protests” he said. “The 7th pay commission report is ready but Karnataka is yet to implement even the 6th pay commission recommendations fully. The protests by policemen and government employees indicate that the government is not ready to listen to their problems,” the former Union minister said.
