Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi accuses Karnataka Governor of assassinating Constitution of India

Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi said, “BJP leaders, like Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, claimed that many leaders in their party were corrupt. With what face could organise a padayatra (march) to Mysuru against alleged corruption of Congress and Siddaramaiah. BJP State unit president B.Y. Vijayendra must answer the question his own party leaders raised before questioning Congress.”

Taking exception to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s sanctioning prosecution of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah for alleged irregularities in the allotment of MUDA sites, Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi said that the Governor is assassinating the Constitution of India by acting as a puppet at the hand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Speaking to mediapersons at Hosapete in Vijayanagara district on August 17, Mr. Tangadagi said that the sanction for prosecution against the Chief Minister was part of a larger plan hatched by Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah to undermine the democratically elected government in Karnataka.

“The MUDA sites were allotted to the wife of Mr. Siddaramaiah as per the law. Mr. Siddaramaiah had directly criticised Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah and other BJP leaders during the last Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Now, the BJP leaders are settling scores with Mr. Siddaramaiah. Moreover, they are not unable to digest the popularity that Mr. Siddaramaiah is enjoying due to his popular guarantee schemes. The Governor, who is misusing his office, must be removed. The people of Karnataka will not tolerate this [revenge] culture. We will start a legal fight and win it. The entire Congress party will firmly stand with Mr. Siddaramaiah,” Mr. Tangadagi said.

He cancelled the press conference that he was supposed to address at the Tungabhadra Command Area Development Authority office at Minirabad in Koppal district, along with hydro-mechanical engineer N. Kannaiah Naidu who led a team of experts in the installation of a stop lock gate in place of the Crest Gate Number 19 of Tungabhadra reservoir, which was washed away late on August 10. He then left for Bengaluru to attend an emergency meeting of the Cabinet called by the Chief Minister.

Terming T..J. Abraham, one of the complainants who sought the Governor’s permission to prosecute Mr. Siddaramaiah, as a ‘blackmailer’, Mr. Tangadagi said that Supreme Court had slapped a fine of ₹20 crores on him in a case.

“Mr. Abraham lodged a complaint against the Chief Minister in the morning without knowing the facts. The Governor issued a show-cause notice to the Chief Minister in the evening. It shows how the Governor’s office is acting as a puppet of the Union Government, Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah,” Mr. Tangadagi said.

In response to BJP leaders’ claim that the exposure of MUDA scam was the result of a conspiracy of an anti-Siddaramaiah faction in the Congress, Mr. Tangadagi hit back by asking the BJP leaders to clean up their party before pointing fingers at others.