‘Most corrupt CM of K’taka’: Oppn reacts to BSY’s departure

Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Siddaramaiah on Monday, said “There is no loss to Karnataka with the resignation of Chief Minister BSYediyurappa and there is no benefit either with the arrival of a new CM”, hours after BS Yediyurappa announced his resignation as the state chief minister

Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Siddaramaiah on Monday, said “There is no loss to Karnataka with the resignation of Chief Minister BSYediyurappa and there is no benefit either with the arrival of a new CM”, hours after BS Yediyurappa announced his resignation as the state chief minister.

HT Image

Calling Yediyurappa as the most corrupt chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said, “BJP itself is a most corrupt party. Unless it is thrown out of power, there is no solace to the state,” he said.

Later talking to the media on Monday night, he said that despite political enmity, his relationship with Yediyurappa remains intact.

“Our political lives and personal lives are different. As much as our ideologies are different, I don’t have any anger or bad blood with Yediyurappa. We both came to the Karnataka Assembly together in 1983, and there is no question about that fact that he fought his way up in politics,” said Siddaramaiah, discussing his equations with the former chief minister.

Like Siddaramaiah, Yediyurappa followed the old school politics of having good relations with opposition party leaders. Despite ideological differences, the 78-year-old had cordial relations with his political opponents and often held personal meetings with them, Congress leaders said.

When asked if the resignation would help Congress in the coming election, Siddaramaiah said that the people of Karnataka are fed up with the BJP’s corrupt rule. “I haven’t seen such a corrupt government in my life. We are in a situation where IAS and IPS officers have to pay bribes to get postings, so one can imagine what the situation of the state is,” he added.

DK Shivakumar, president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, said that BJP high command made Yediyurappa cry. “As I see it, first of all, the chief minister of the state was forced to shed tears (by the BJP high command). He has expressed his hurt. He has said that he was not allowed to govern properly,” he said.

“Now talking about his governance, his ministers have talked about his misgovernance, and they have even written letters to the governor. It is not we, as the opposition, calling him corrupt but his ministers,” Shivakumar added.

In Gokak, KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi told media that Yediyurappa had become a victim of a conspiracy by some Manuwadis, just as Sri Basaveshwara suffered at the hands of Manuwadis in the 12th century. He added that hardcore right-wingers in the BJP had insulted the mass leader and forced him to resign.

“The issue here is that we feel bad at the way the BJP treated Yediyurappa. Replacing a CM is an internal matter of the party. We have nothing to say about it. We know that our performance in the coming polls will depend on how we organise the party and face elections. Our ideology and strategies will decide our poll performance. We will work on it, as always, he said.”

Former chief minister JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, who formed a coalition government with BJP in 2008, is yet to react to the resignation.