We are against Indira Canteen name change, says Siddaramaiah

Team Udayavani, Aug 7, 2021, 4:54 PM IST

Bengaluru: Leader of opposition Siddaramaiah said that it is not appropriate for the State government to attempt to change the name of Indira Canteens and they are strongly opposed to it.

He was responding to BJP general secretary CT Ravi’s statement that Indira Canteens should be renamed as Annapoorna Canteens.

“Naming of roads, stadiums and government institutions after national leaders have been an old practice. Then why is a flyover in Bengaluru named after Deendayal Upadhyay, Vajpayee’s name for urban transport and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name given for a Gujarat stadium? If the Central government wants to change names then they should change these names,” he said.

“There is no question that Major Dhyan Chand was a great hockey player. Another award could have been named after him. Why remove Rajiv Gandhi’s name? National leaders names are used in memory of their service to the country. It is the politics of hate to change the name nominated by the party that was earlier in power. Indira Gandhi had worked hard for the poor. She gave the slogan ‘garibi hatao’ and made tillers landowners. Thus Indira Canteen is named after her. The BJP is not concerned about the poor. If they were then they should not have reduced the 7 kilograms of rice given to the poor. Do they care about dalits, poor people and social justice? The BJP is being pro-capitalists and pro-corporate,” Siddaramaiah added.

Speaking about the new State Cabinet, Siddaramaiah said that he has no hopes from the new Cabinet.

“Most of the old people are in the Cabinet. So how can we expect something new? There are 13 districts that are not represented in the Cabinet. There are 24.1 per cent Dalits in the State. However, only four seats have been given to the Scheduled Castes. The Bhovis, Korachas and Koramari have not been given any berths. When we were ruling, these communities were given the major ministries. Overall, there is no room for regional and social justice in the Cabinet,” he said.

He also commented on the Enforcement Directorate raid on Zameer Khan.

“Usually, the ED conducts a raid after a recommendation by the I-T Department. However, Zameer Ahmad’s house was raided suddenly by the ED. it was politically motivated,” Siddaramaiah said.

“Why aren’t there any raids on BJP members? Are they all poor, BPL cardholders? Why target Congressmen? Zameer Ahmad is a close friend of mine. Similarly, many people are close to me even many in the BJP. However, friendship and politics are different,” he added.