Honey-trapping episode part of efforts in Congress to grab CM’s seat from Siddaramaiah, says Vijayendra

BJP's B.Y. Vijayendra accuses honey-trapping as a ploy to seize Chief Minister's post from Siddaramaiah.

BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra on Sunday alleged that the entire honey-trapping episode was part of efforts to grab the Chief Minister’s post from Siddaramaiah.

“Much has been already discussed about it [honey-trapping] in the Assembly. I don’t want to comment on it further. The entire episode is a part of the competition to grab the Chief Minister’s seat. Let us see how Congress leaders will respond to the issue. We will respond to it later,” Mr. Vijayendra said during his brief interaction with the mediapersons in Kalaburagi on Sunday.

He was responding to the queries on Cooperation Minister K.N. Rajanna’s allegations that legislators, senior politicians, and judges were the victims of organised honey-trapping.

“The more important issue to be discussed is the minority appeasement by the Congress government. The BJP is not anti-Muslim. But the Congress government’s Muslim appeasement at the cost of disrespect to Hindus is unforgivable. The recent Budget that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented has nothing to do with the overall development of the State. There is nothing in the Budget but appeasement of Muslims. Nobody had expected such a Budget without a vision from a seasoned Chief Minister,” he said.

Terming the six-month suspension of 18 BJP MLAs as an anti-constitutional move, Mr. Vijayendra appealed to Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader to reconsider his decision.

“As many as 18 BJP MLAs were suspended from the House when they were protesting against the Congress government’s appeasement of minorities and other issues. If the Speaker had felt that the behaviour of the MLAs in question was inappropriate, he should have decided within the scope of his powers. He could have placed the MLAs under suspension for the remaining period of the Assembly session. Suspending them for six months is illegal. The former Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and other experts have already expressed similar opinions,” Mr. Vijayendra said

Pointing to the additional restrictions imposed on the suspended MLAs, such as they shall not participate in the official meetings and exercise their franchises in urban local body elections, Mr. Vijayendra said that the decision was anti-constitutional.