No black spot on me in 40 years: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on graft charge

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday denied charges of corruption against him levelled by the Opposition BJP and said he has not faced any "black spot" in his 40-year career.

"Are you accusing me of corruption? It's been 40 years since I first became a minister. There's not been any black spot on me...you are lying," Siddaramaiah told the Opposition benches during a heated exchange in the Assembly.

The duel started when Siddaramaiah said the BJP was against social justice. "However much you speak about Dalits, none will call you pro-Dalit or pro-SC/ST. It's clear from their programmes when they were in power," Siddaramaiah said.

Objecting to this, BJP members hit back. "We are telling how the Congress government and Siddaramaiah are against social justice. "You've been given power because you claimed you'd set things right and that you're against corruption. But yours is 100% corruption...PayCM...100 per cent...you should be ashamed," former deputy chief minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan said.

Recalling the '40 per cent commission' charge against the previous BJP government, Siddaramaiah said he would expose corruption that took place when the saffron party was in power. "They (BJP) should be ashamed...cowards! You're sitting there (in the Opposition) after losing the election," the CM said.

Siddaramaiah dubbed Narayan as the "Pitamaha of corruption".