Yeddyurappa having food at Dalits' houses a drama": CM

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said BJP state President B S Yeddyurappa’s visits to houses of Dalits and having food there was an “act of hypocrisy” and a “drama.” Siddaramaiah said Yeddyurappa allegedly preferring breakfast from a hotel instead of what was prepared at a Dalit’s house he had visited was a “practice of untouchability.” “….these days Yeddyurappa has started speaking about Dalits. In his life, he has never favoured Dalits, even when he was chief minister,” Siddaramaiah said.

Speaking at a press conference to highlight “failures” of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as it completed three years in office, he said “He (Yeddyurappa) is visiting dalits house, but eating food brought from outside- is it not a practice of untouchability?” “Dalits had prepared palav (pulao) in their house for him, but he instead preferred idli and dosa brought from outside (Hotel). Is it not an act of hypocrisy? They are doing it for show off and drama. If they feel they can fool people from such acts, it shows their foolishness,” he added.

As part of his drought study tour across the state, Yeddyurappa was recently in Chitradurga where he along with other leaders partook of breakfast at a dalits house.

It was alleged that the former chief minister had breakfast brought from a nearby hotel instead of what was homemade, which drew flak from both the Congress and JD(S). Refuting the charge, Yeddyurappa had termed it a malicious campaign by the Congress unable to resist his visit to dalit mohallas.

Attacking the Modi government, Siddaramaiah said “they had promised ache din (good days). I don’t know to whom ache din has come after three years.” He said it has not come for youth, farmers, labourers or dalits.

Atrocities against dalits had increased by 38 per cent after BJP coming to power, he claimed.

He alleged that polarization was the only achievement of the Modi government, and added that Karnataka specifically has not benefited from the Centre on various fronts.

Alleging that the Modi government had failed on all fronts, Congress General Secretary in-charge for Karnataka K C Venugopal said all the populist schemes of NDA government were nothing but continuation of UPA government schemes with name change.

He also said “Swachh Bharat” mission was a scam.

“…some NGOs have conducted a survey about what has happened in Swachh Bharat, all the toilets which are constructed under Swachh Bharat have vanished. Actually it has become a big scam. Swachh Bharat is a scam,” Venugopal said.