Does Rahul stand with accused number one Siddaramaiah, asks BJP

The BJP on Saturday asserted that the registration of a case on several criminal charges, including corruption, against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has exposed the Congress, as it noted that the FIR was lodged following a court order and central agencies had no role in it.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters that it is a rare case of a sitting chief minister being made an accused in a corruption case and has unmasked the “corrupt face” of the Congress.

Siddaramaiah is the accused number one in the case, he said and took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, asking if he stood with the chief minister accused of corrupt practices.

The Karnataka Lokayukta police on Friday registered an FIR against Siddaramaiah and others in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case, following the court order.

A special court in Bengaluru on Wednesday ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Siddaramaiah in the case, setting the stage for filing an FIR against him.

With the Congress leadership accusing the BJP of targeting the chief minister for political reasons, Trivedi noted that central probe agencies had no role in this FIR.

He claimed that the case is an outcome of Siddaramaiah’s own misdeeds, as he and his family abused government powers to acquire assets illegally.

He said a Congress candidate in the Haryana assembly polls had recently said that his party leaders will use power to enrich themselves and their relatives, and alleged that the Karnataka chief minister had already been doing it.

While Congress leaders pocket thousands of crores of rupees, they give “lollypop” of a few thousands to people, he said.

At the press conference, the BJP spokesperson also slammed the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal for its “nexus” with criminals over the case of rape of an IAS officer’s wife.

He made a mention of the Calcutta High Court’s critical observation of the police investigation in the case to hit out at the regional party.

It shows how dangerous the state has become for women, and a heinous nexus is visible between government officials and criminals, he alleged.

Replying to a question about Gandhi’s allegation that the poor had no place in the Ram temple inauguration ceremony, Trivedi accused the Congress of repeatedly disrespecting the temple and noted that workers involved in its construction were felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and showered with flower petals.

He objected to the use of phrase like “naach gana” (song and dance) by Gandhi in the context of the temple’s inauguration ceremony.

He said three generations of Gandhi family had gone to Mughal king Babar’s grave in Afghanistan to pay their respects, and claimed that their stand on the temple shows their real nature and contempt for Hinduism.

Referring to Pakistani prime minister’s comments in the UN targeting India over developments in Kashmir, Trivedi said the Congress-National Conference has also been speaking the same language.

Noting that the anniversary of the surgical strikes targeting terrorists in Pakistan in 2016 fell on Saturday, he said the Congress and Pakistan have been echoing each other’s views since then.