Bengaluru, Jun 6 (DHNS): Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar on Monday criticised the Siddaramaiah government over Water Resources Minister M B Patil conducting a homa to invoke the rain god’s blessings recently.

He demanded that he should be dropped from the state Cabinet immediately.The government’s double standards have been exposed since it is talking of enacting an anti-superstitious law but allows its own minister to perform Parjanya homa, he said. “Patil hails from the land of Basavanna (12th century social reformer). But, unfortunately, he is performing such homas,” he stated, raising the issue in the Assembly.

“If the minister believes that the homa will bring rain, then why did he not perform it in the past three years when there was severe drought? If the government believes in such homas, there is no need for it to spend crores of rupees on irrigation...The government had initially planned to spend Rs 20 lakh for the homa at the birth place of the Krishna and the Cauvery rivers. Later, it was dropped due to criticism from various quarters,” he charged.

Shettar described the Parjanya homa performed by the minister as “heights of stupidity” and accused the government of misleading people. He also sought to know why “all those intellectuals” who had been insisting that the government ban superstitious practices, are not raising their voice against Patil and the government.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who claims he has a socialist background, has turned a blind eye to the homa issue, he charged.

Senior BJP leader K G Bopaiah said several officers of the Water Resources department attended the Parjanya homa at Bhagamandala, near the birth place of the river Cauvery in Kodagu district.

Many Congress and JD(S) members tried to counter Shettar saying the BJP government in the past had distributed Gangajal on the occasion of Shivaratri. Members on the Opposition and the Treasury benches indulged in mudslinging on the issue. JD(S) MLA K M Shivalinge Gowda said a BJP leader had gifted elephants to a temple in Kerala in the past. Then, BJP’s C T Ravi said a senior politician had performed a month-long homa in the past.

Minister Patil was not present in the House.