Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SP)
New Delhi, Feb 17: "BJP legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has alleged that chief minister B S Yediyurappa's family is involved with corruption and that the money so earned has been stashed away at Mauritius. An inquiry headed by a sitting Supreme Court (SC) judge should be ordered into the allegation by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi," urged leader of the opposition in Karnataka assembly, Siddaramaiah.
He was speaking to media persons at Karnataka Bhavan at New Delhi on Tuesday February 16. "During the campaigning for the election, Modi used to say in his speeches that he would not indulge in corruption nor would he allow others to do that. Now, his own party legislator has levelled corruption charges against the chief minister belonging his party. Let the PM stay committed to his claims and order an inquiry by a SC judge," he stated.
Siddaramaiah, speaking about the demand for scheduled caste reservation for Kuruba community, felt that the time is not ripe for the agitation. .He said that the state government has to recommend to the centre after receiving the research report on the community and only if the centre rejects the recommendation the agitation can be launched. He felt that fighting for reservation at this juncture is a wasteful exercise.
He pointed out that Eshwarappa who has been leading the movement for according ST status for Kurubas is a BJP leader. Moreover, the government which have to recommend for the reservation and accept the same, are with the BJP. This is like a fight carried out by Eshwarappa against himself," he ridiculed.
Siddaramaiah said that reservation can be given to those who meet eligibility criteria of articles 15, 16 and 340 of the constitution and there is provision in the constitution to extend reservation benefit only to those community that are socially and educationally backward.
About Kumaraswamy's statement that houses of people who refuse to donate to Sri Ram Mandir are being marked, he said he too has refused to donate for the temple but he had refused, citing that the temple is being built on a disputed land. "No marks are left behind by the donation seekers at my home. You have to ask Kumaraswamy whether there is a mark on his house," he said. He said that the people are wondering whether the BJP which did not provide PM Cares Fund account will be able to provide accounts for the money collected for the temple. He wanted to know what happened to the bricks and money collected in the past by Hindu outfits for Sri Ram Mandir construction.
On the issue of revision of BPL beneficiaries list, he said that the move is not wrong. However, he added that television sets and bikes cannot be the yardsticks of poverty. "People borrow to purchase these things. Do you think they are rich? Umesh Katti and people like whim who do not want to serve the poor alone get such ideas," he stated.