Siddaramaiah has no commitment to implementing internal reservation: Karnataka BJP
Bengaluru, Aug 28 (IANS) Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and BJP MP, Govind Karjol, on Friday accused former Chief Minister and Congress Working Committee Member Siddaramaiah of shedding “crocodile tears” for backward and disadvantaged communities whenever he loses power, alleging that he has no genuine commitment to implementing internal reservation.
Speaking to reporters at Jagannatha Bhavan, the BJP state headquarters in Bengaluru, Karjol said Siddaramaiah was now claiming that he would speak to Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and ensure the implementation of internal reservation after correcting alleged injustices in the existing system.
Karjol questioned why Siddaramaiah had failed to implement internal reservation when he had served as Chief Minister on two earlier occasions.
“The internal reservation struggle has a 30-year history. Siddaramaiah is now saying that there has been injustice in internal reservation and that he will speak to Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and get it implemented. But when he was Chief Minister twice earlier, why could he not implement it?” Karjol asked.
Karjol alleged that Siddaramaiah received the Madhusudan Naik report a day before resigning and was aware of the state’s financial position after presenting 18 budgets. He claimed Siddaramaiah knew that the government did not have sufficient funds to implement the reservation.
He further alleged that Siddaramaiah created confusion, allowed the matter to reach court and encouraged street protests before escaping political pressure.
Karjol also criticised the previous government for passing a Bill proposing 56 per cent reservation during the Belagavi session and sending it to the Governor, but failing to secure its implementation.
Karjol also accused Siddaramaiah of attempting to mislead people by claiming that he was responsible for making G. Parameshwara Deputy Chief Minister.
He alleged that Siddaramaiah had shown little concern for Parameshwara during his earlier tenure as Chief Minister and claimed that Parameshwara was sidelined because Siddaramaiah viewed him as a potential rival for the Chief Minister’s post.
Karjol further alleged that leaders including Satish Jarkiholi, M.B. Patil and Zameer Ahmed were being treated unfairly.
He accused Siddaramaiah of attempting to create unrest after losing power and alleged that he was trying to prevent others from becoming Chief Minister while ensuring a political role for his son.
Karjol also targeted Siddaramaiah over his handling of various reports concerning backward classes and reservation.
He alleged that Siddaramaiah ignored the Kantharaj Commission report and the Jayaprakash Hegde report, while attempting to use the Madhusudan Naik report as a political weapon.
He also alleged that the Sadashiva Commission report was ignored, while the government did not obtain or implement reports associated with Nagamohan Das and Madhuswamy.
“Creating confusion and building a vote bank is their only work,” Karjol alleged, questioning why Siddaramaiah had not followed the Supreme Court’s directions despite frequently speaking about the Constitution.
He claimed that this amounted to injustice to Justice A.J. Sadashiva, Nagamohan Das and several communities.
Reacting to the Valmiki Corporation case, Karjol said the resignation of former minister B. Nagendra alone was not sufficient and alleged that the entire state government should have resigned.
He argued that the money involved in the alleged irregularities was released from the state treasury and claimed that the Chief Minister, as head of the government, should have taken responsibility.
Legislative Council BJP Chief Whip N. Ravikumar, BJP state spokesperson H. Venkatesh Dodderi, retired IAS officer Lakshminarayana and Belagavi Rural district president Subhash Patil were present during the press conference.
–IANS
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