Be prepared to counter BJP in winter session, CM Siddaramaiah tells ministers

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday called on his cabinet colleagues to be well prepared to take on the Opposition parties ahead of and during the winter session of the state legislature scheduled to be held in Belagavi next month. 

The meeting with his cabinet colleagues comes at a time when the embattled Congress government is putting out multiple fires, the latest one being the controversy over the Waqf Board and the confusion stirred up over the government’s commitment to guarantee schemes.

“The chief minister has advised us to come prepared to the session to handle the Opposition’s attack on the government, mainly over the Waqf row,” said a senior minister.

Siddaramaiah has reportedly asked all cabinet ministers to compile information on the many questionable decisions that were taken during BJP’s tenure.

Cabinet has already decided to form SIT on Covid scam, today’s discussion was to appoint chief for SIT and responsibility has been entrusted to Home Minister, adding that Siddaramaiah wants the Covid scam to be used as an effective weapon to blunt the BJP’s attack against the Congress government during the session.

The chief minister also touched upon reports of the BJP’s purported attempts to destabilise the Congress government by luring its lawmakers away.

“We have been told to keep our MLAs in our confidence and to keep an eye on all lawmakers so that we learn of any such attempts without delay, and bring it to the CM’s notice,” the minister said.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Ministers Parameshwara, H C Mahadevappa, Dinesh Gundu Rao, K H Muniyappa, K N Rajanna, and Priyank Kharge were among those who attended the meeting.