Siddaramaiah: Want to remind Kagodu I am first CM to do drought tour of state
BENGALURU: In a veiled attack against Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa, CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday asserted that he was perhaps the first leader occupying the top post over the last six decades to tour the entire state during the recent drought.
Mr Siddaramaiah told the media after a tour of the city: “Actually, I do not wish react to Mr Thimmappa’s statements but certainly wish to gently remind him that I am probably the first Chief Minister to travel extensively when the entire state was reeling under severe drought. I was amidst people and met many people wherever I went. That is how the state government was effectively tackling the drought. Is this not enough to prove that I had always been with people?”
In response to a question, the CM contended that he had never turned superstitious and always derived pleasure in defying superstitious rituals at every given opportunity.
“I did not change my official car because a crow sat on it. My old car had logged more than two lakh kilometres. Hence, about two months ago, I decided to change the car. But unfortunately, timing was such that my new car arrived exactly a day or two after a crow sat on my old car. Thus, it has given the impression that I changed it after a crow sat on it,” he added.
To buttress his stand, he stated that he was the first CM in the country to present a budget during “Rahu Kala” or inauspicious hour. The forthcoming monsoon session of legislature would commence on July 4, a new moon day, though considered inauspicious.
“These two are latest examples and I am not finished yet. I have visited Chamarajanagar more than half dozen times though most other CMs considered it a bad omen. I hope that I have tried to clarify as much as possible that I firmly do not believe in any kind of superstitious beliefs. At least now, the media should try to highlight the fact that new car which I am using is not the result of superstitions belief but due to other reasons,” he said.
Answering another question on Tamil Nadu CM J. Jayalalithaa petitioning PM Narendra Modi on the Cauvery dispute, Mr Siddaramaiah said the state was capable of handling this issue in court. “Both of us are fighting in the court of law. Unless the solution comes out of the court battle, nobody can interfere in this matter,” he added.
Mr Siddaramaiah, however, conceded that the Congress had failed to win a single seat in the just concluded elections to the Council from graduates and teachers constituencies.
“We have failed, that is right. But we failed as we could not field our candidates a little early. We announced our candidates only after the election commission announced the election schedule. This is one reason why we failed to win even a single seat,” he said.
