Karnataka Revenue Minister criticises CM Siddaramaiah, then retracts

Mysuru: Making a statement which has raised eyebrows in political circles, senior Congress leader and revenue minister Mr V. Srinivasprasad has said that the allegation of nepotism made against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has embarrassed the Congress party and the CM himself would have to answer embarassing questions on this episode.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr Srinivasprasad was reacting to a question related to the allegation made against Mr Siddaramaiah that his son was the beneficiary of a contract awarded to a diagnostic lab at Victoria hospital premises in Bengaluru. Later, he however retracted his statement.

On the demand made by senior Congress leader Adagur H. Vishwanath for replacing state Congress in-charge Digvijay Singh, Mr Srinivasprasad said, “Mr Digvijay Singh has served as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for two terms.

Although he is not functioning as per expectations, he is working efficiently. He has taken both the CM and Congress state head into confidence, and has resolved several internal conflicts in the party as well.

He visits the state often, that doesn’t mean he needs to hold a discussion on every comment passed by each person. I don’t think much significance need to be attached to the statement of Mr Vishwanath in this regard,” he said.

Mr Srinivasprasad garlanded the statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar and participated in a programme to mark his 125th birth anniversary celebrations here on Thursday.