From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiowrld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Mar 25: As a retaliatory step against Opposition BJP and JD(S) leaders, who forced the Congress government in Karnataka to order a CBI probe in the death of IAS officer D K Ravi by joining forces with the parents of the deceased officer and other organisations, the ruling Congress legislators are believed to have mounted pressure on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to hand over several other unsolved cases in the State involving the leaders of both parties to the CBI for investigation.
The demands were reportedly voiced by Congress legislators at a special meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, which was attended by the Chief Minister as well as KPCC chief Dr G Parameshwar and several other ministers, in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
"We should teach a lesson to the leaders of both BJP and JD(S), who played politics over the death of the IAS officer, knowing fully well that the State Government had no role whatsoever in the tragic death of D K Ravi," a Congress leader is said to have told the CLP meeting pointing out that the leaders of the opposition parties should know that they too have "skeletons in their cupboards."
According to informed sources in the party, the issue came up for a serious debate when the Chief Minister informed the party MLAs that opposition parties seem to have ganged up to malign him and the State Government byencashing the unnatural death of an IAS officer, D K Ravi, as they did not have any other serious issues to attack the Government or the recent budget.
The Chief Minister, who addressed the party legislators at the Legislative Party meeting, learnt to have said that the Opposition BJP and the JD(S) had no qualms in coming together to target him by picking up the death of an IAS officer and sought their opinion on the issue.
While expressing solidarity with the chief minister on the issue, the Congress legislators, however had urged the chief minister to turn the tables against the Opposition leaders by handing over several criminal cases to the CBI.
A senior Congress leader is learnt to have pointed out that the entrusting of the past unsolved cases involving BJP and JD(S) leaders would serve as a potent weapon not only against the State leaders of the BJP and JD(S) but even the national leaders of ruling BJP as no less a person than the Home Minister Rajnath Singh appeared to be extremely interested in taking over the investigation of D K Ravi’s death by CBI even though he must be fully aware of the fact that law and order is a State subject.
"Let us see what the Centre does when we refer the past unsolved cases involving BJP and JD(S) leaders to CBI for investigation," he is believed to have said pointing out that if the Centre refused to take up the cases or if the CBI takes up the investigation and nails the persons involved or is unable to solve the cases would expose everybody.
"Either way, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They (leaders of opposition parties) should know that those living in glass houses should not throw stones at others," he said.
The previous BJP government had turned down the demand of the Congress to hand over several cases to the CBI, including cases of unnatural death of the wife of former Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and another woman, PadmapriyaBhat, wife of the then BJP legislator from Udupi, Raghupathi Bhat.
The party MLAs also asked the chief minister to hand over the Rs 150 crore graft case hurled against JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, when the latter was the chief minister, and other cases relating to illegal mining in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumakuru districts, in which the Opposition BJP and JD(S) leaders were involved.
Former ministers BasavarajaRayaraddi, MalikayyaGuttedar, A Manju and others are learnt to have targeted some of the members of the Siddaramaiah cabinet for not standing behind the chief minister solidly when the issue of the death of the IAS officer, figured prominently in both the houses of the legislature.
The Chief Minister, who gave a patient hearing to the views of the party MLAs, however appealed them to actively participate in the proceedings of the house and take on the opposition members, against any attempt to tarnish the image of the party and the government.
Siddaramaiah was non-committal on the demand for entrusting the past unsolved cases involving BJP and JD(S) leaders to the CBI for probe, sources said.
KPCC president G Parameshwara, Social Welfare minister H Anjaneya, Revenue minister Srinivasprasad, RoshanBaig, Ramalinga Reddy, H S Mahadevaprasad, Dr H C Mahadevappa, KimmaneRathnakar, U T Khader, RamanathaRai and others were also present at the meeting the sources said.