Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah Accuses BJP Of Targeting Congress Through False Cases To Hide Failures

Belagavi : Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday accused the BJP of indulging in “politics of hatred” and misusing power to target Congress leaders through false cases in an attempt to conceal its governance failures. He said the trial court’s rejection of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) charge sheet in the National Herald case had reaffirmed justice.

He was speaking while participating in a protest along with Congress MLAs and MLCs near the Gandhi statue at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, held in support of the court’s decision to reject the ED’s charge sheet in the case. The protest also sought to condemn what he termed the misuse of power by the BJP-led Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Siddaramaiah said protests in support of the court’s decision would continue both inside and outside the legislature and would be intensified across the state and the country.

“The Congress is not a party that will remain silent. It was the Congress that secured Independence for the country, while the BJP did not participate in the freedom struggle and is today indulging in divisive politics,” he alleged.

The Chief Minister said the BJP was resorting to such tactics to divert public attention from pressing issues such as rising inflation, increasing unemployment and mounting public debt.

“Arbitrary taxes are being imposed on people, and the country is being pushed towards becoming a debt-ridden nation,” he alleged.

Referring to the National Herald case, Siddaramaiah said Subramanian Swamy had filed a complaint in 2012.

“The trial court has now rejected the charge sheet filed by the ED. The court has upheld justice by rejecting a false case,” he said.

Attacking the BJP further, Siddaramaiah said that when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister, the country’s debt stood at around Rs 53.11 lakh crore, but had risen sharply during Prime Minister Modi’s tenure.

“In the 11 years since Modi came to power, the country’s debt has increased by Rs 148 lakh crore. To hide these failures, the BJP is taking refuge in false cases,” he alleged.

Referring to Prime Minister Modi’s promises, Siddaramaiah said commitments to create two crore jobs every year and to deposit Rs 15 lakh in every citizen’s bank account by bringing back black money from abroad had not been fulfilled. He also pointed to the sharp rise in prices of essential commodities, including petrol, diesel and cooking gas.

“To divert public attention from these failures, the BJP is giving undue importance to false cases and misleading the people of the country,” he alleged.

The Chief Minister also attacked the BJP-led NDA government for what he described as its focus on renaming schemes and institutions.

“The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has been renamed as VB-G RaM Yojana, and Raj Bhavan has been renamed Lok Bhavan. These are government properties and changing their names is not right. The BJP is busy renaming programmes instead of working for the welfare of the poor,” he said.

He said the BJP had consistently opposed pro-poor programmes, citing the party’s opposition to the guarantee schemes implemented by the Congress government in Karnataka, even as similar welfare measures were now being replicated elsewhere.

“The BJP does not follow the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar. It ignores the poor, Dalits, backward classes and minorities,” he alleged.