Siddaramaiah dares Narendra Modi for debate on Karnataka crime rate

Team Udayavani, May 2, 2018, 9:45 AM IST

Bengaluru: Blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for rehashing lies for political purposes, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday challenged him to partake in an debate with him on the issues of crime, and the law and order situation contrasted with the BJP-ruled states. 

Reacting to Modi’s affirmations that the law and order in the state under Congress rule had collapsed, Siddaramaiah tweeted: “Crime increasing in Karnataka abnormally. PM repeats the lie of increasing crime rate for political purposes. I challenge him for an open debate on a single platform on crime and law and order situation in Karnataka viz-a-viz BJP-ruled states.”

The Prime Minister, tending to a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in Udupi on Tuesday, considered the Congress government in charge of the asserted murders of BJP party workers in the state. 

“It is to a great degree dishonorable that the Congress government has permitted murders in the state and a few BJP party workers were killed. The Congress must give a response to these rising violations,” he said. 

The state police, prior said the killings of a couple of individuals were “neither communal nor political”. 

Siddaramaiah additionally hit out at Modi for his comments that the Karnataka Chief Minister was challenging from two constituencies and changing his seat, fearing defeat. 

“Was it fear that drove you to contest from two parliamentary constituencies (Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara in Gujarat) Mr. PM Narendra Modi? Of course you are a 56-inch man, you would have some clever explanation,” Siddaramaiah wrote in his tweet. Modi had challenged from both Varanasi and Vadodara in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. 

“Disregard two seats, Sir. Stress over the way that your party (BJP) won’t cross 60-70 (seats in the upcoming elections),” Siddaramaiah included his tweet. 

The Congress leader likewise took a correspond at Modi’s remarks that the party was enabling friends and relatives to challenge the elections. 

“For the Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) the control is ‘2+1’, where he will challenge from two seats and has given his old seat (Varuna in Mysuru region) to his son (Yathindra) and for other ministers (in the state cabinet), the rule is by all accounts ‘1+1’, enabling their relatives to battle elections,” Modi said.

In spite of the fact that Siddaramaiah had won from Varuna twice since the 2008 Assembly elections, he moved to Chamundeshwari, clearing a path for his son Yathindra to challenge from his home constituency. 

Responding to the affirmations, Siddaramaiah tweeted: “Today PM avoided talking about his complicity in closing CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) cases against the Reddy brothers. Instead he spoke about some ‘2+1’ formula. Here is the explanation to his formula to win election: 2 Reddys + 1 Yeddy (referring to party’s chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa).”

The Karnataka Chief Minister, alongside his tweets posted a photo of the corrupted mining baron from Ballari region G. Janardhana Reddy, his sibling G. Karunakara Reddy will’s identity challenging from Harpanahallli in a similar area, alongside Yeddyurappa. 

Janardhana Reddy, who was the state Tourism and Infrastructure Minister between 2008-11 when Yeddyurappa was the Chief Minister, was captured and imprisoned for around two years after the state’s hostile to unite guard dog (Lokayukta) named him in the multi-crore iron ore mining scam that shook Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for about 10 years (2001-10). 

Yeddyurappa, as well, was compelled to venture down from the Chief Minister’s post over his asserted inclusion in a land scam.