Bengaluru, March 3: In a sharp attack on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy accused him of neglecting governance amid the ongoing phone tapping controversy in the state.
Kumaraswamy alleged that Siddaramaiah was involved in political retaliations instead of focusing on administration. The Chief Minister has been accused of tapping the phone of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who aspires to become the Chief Minister.
Siddaramaiah has dismissed these allegations. In several posts on the social media platform ‘X’, Kumaraswamy stated that the Chief Minister seemed more preoccupied with responding to accusations than governing.
Referring to media reports regarding the alleged phone tapping, Kumaraswamy asserted that he had only addressed questions raised in the public domain and had not made any baseless accusations.
He claimed that instead of concentrating on administration after winning 140 seats in the Karnataka Assembly, the Congress-led state government was embroiled in internal conflicts.
Kumaraswamy suggested that the phone tapping issue was linked to an ongoing ‘power struggle’ within the Congress party, a suspicion shared by both the opposition and some media outlets.
“When questions are raised, it is your (Congress government) responsibility to address them directly instead of diverting the issue,” he stated.
Kumaraswamy denied any involvement in phone tapping during his tenure as Chief Minister. He emphasized that he had completed two short terms without any independent majority, and thus had no reason to misuse power to retain his position.
He accused the Congress party of historically undermining democratic principles, citing the Emergency period as an example of the party’s disregard for internal democracy.
Kumaraswamy remarked that democracy does not mean factionalism among legislators, public displays of disagreement between the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, or intimidating the media through government advertisements.
He criticized the politics of dividing people based on caste and religion as detrimental to democratic governance. Additionally, he condemned Siddaramaiah for allegedly dragging Prime Minister Narendra Modi into the controversy, claiming that under the current Congress government in Karnataka, the misuse of power and politics of vengeance against the opposition have become commonplace.
Referring to what he called the ‘Siddaramaiah Investigation Team (SIT)’, Kumaraswamy alleged that investigative methods were being applied selectively.
In a personal remark, he recalled Siddaramaiah’s previous political affiliations and stated that history would judge his political actions. Kumaraswamy urged the Chief Minister to remember which political party he was associated with before joining Congress.
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S.C.H.
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