KPCC working president Manjunath Bhandari.
Credit: DH Photo
Mangaluru: KPCC working president Manjunath Bhandari on Saturday said that the permission granted by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to prosecute Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA site 'scam' case is politically motivated and has no truth in it.
It is an act of “political vendetta” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-and Amit Shah, he said.
“The BJP is unable to digest the popularity of the Siddaramaiah-led state government in Karnataka. They have been targeting the government in one or the other way. Now, they (BJP) have misused the Governor’s office. The act of the Governor is a murder of democracy,” he told media persons in Mangaluru.
“The BJP is trying to destabilise the elected government and is trying to tarnish the image of Siddaramaiah,” he said and questioned Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot over the pending requests for prosecution against Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy and former BJP Ministers Murugesh Nirani and Shashikala Jolle.
He pointed out that the Lokayukta police had sought the Governor’s sanction for prosecution against Kumaraswamy in an alleged illegal mining case, but no action was taken by the Governor. However, in Siddaramaiah’s case the Governor had issued a show-cause notice on the very day and a complaint was lodged against him in the alleged MUDA scam, he said.
Bhandari said that when the judicial inquiry was on in connection with the MUDA scam, what was the need for the Governor to sanction prosecution against the CM. The Governor is acting at the behest of Amit Shah. The BJP has toppled non-NDA governments in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other states in the past. Now, they are trying to destabilise the government in Karnataka. “All of us Congress workers are behind the CM. What moral right does the BJP have to seek the resignation of the CM,” he asked.
DK DCC President Harish Kumar also condemned the move of the Governor to sanction prosecution against the CM. "The NDA led government wants all the states to be their puppets," he said.
KPCC General Secretary Padmaraj R too reiterated the comments and said, "The Congress government has won the trust of the people in the state. The BJP is trying to destabilise the government in Karnataka by various means."