Court of conscience greater than any other court: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: In a loaded statement, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said the “court of conscience” supersedes all other courts.

The CM’s statement -- he was quoting Mahatma Gandhi -- assumes significance right on the heels of an investigation against him in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment scam.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘Gandhi Bharata’ programme on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and ahead of the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi presiding over the Belagavi session of Congress, Siddaramaiah said: “There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.”

This statement came a day after Siddaramaiah ruled out his resignation by saying that he was working “true to my conscience”. Terming the Father of the Nation an exemplary saint of India, Siddaramaiah gave a clarion call to Congress workers to defeat BJP’s “conspiracy” of turning the country into “Godse’s India”.

“For them, Gandhi is a villain and Godse is a hero,” Siddaramaiah added.

“At the Belagavi session, Gandhi emphasised on Hindu-Muslim unity, gram swaraj, non-violence and peace. They killed Gandhi but as a thinker says, his ideas can never be killed.” Portraying the Congress as a champion of social justice, the chief minister said the BJP was against uplifting all irrespective of caste, religion, gender and so on.

‘Guarantees going strong’

Batting in favour of the Congress’ five flagship guarantees, the CM said the schemes, contrary to naysayers’ opinions, had withstood the test of time and were going strong even after the Lok Sabha elections.

Countering the BJP’s claim that fights between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law would increase due to the Gruha Lakshmi (Rs 2,000 to the women head of the household), the chief minister said he had met a woman who had installed a bangle store for her daughter-in-law from the money saved from Gruha Lakshmi.  “As Ambedkar said, political democracy is meaningful only when accompanied by economic and social democracy. We are trying to achieve that even though the BJP-JD(S) combine opposes it,” Siddaramaiah said.