HAVERI: Siddaramaiah, the leader of the opposition in Karnataka assembly, has lashed out at state agriculture minister BC Patil, alleging that he had sold his allegiance to the BJP for a hefty price.
“Agriculture minister BC Patil assured me he wouldn’t leave Congress, but just two days later, he sold out to the BJP for Rs 25-30 crore,” the former chief minister said while addressing the Prajadhwani gathering at Hirekerur on Tuesday.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Saleem Ahmed, Satish Jarkiholi, UB Banakar and others also attended the programme.
The Congress leader said Patil had polled just 555 votes in the 2018 assembly elections, but won the by-election after having spent Rs 30 crore. “I had approved many projects in the Hirekerur assembly segment. Patil also admitted it. Now he claims he has implemented all those projects,” Siddaramaiah said.
He added: “He has done nothing for this assembly segment. He only makes money since joining the BJP. The saffron party has ‘Ali Baba and 40 thieves’ and BC Patil is one of them.” The former CM also said that BJP legislator Madal Virupakshappa and his son have looted the state.
Virupakshappa’s son Prashanth was caught red-handed by Lokayukta police while accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh. The anti-corruption wing of Lokayukta also raided Prashanth’s residence and recovered Rs 6 crore in cash.
“If Lokayukta conducts rids on agriculture minister Patil, imagine how many crores of illegal cash will be traced? He looted the money from the farmers, he knows the tricks. He will win the next election from Hirekerur and damage the state,” Siddaramaiah asserted.
Taking a swipe at prime minister Narendra Modi’s claim of zero tolerance towards graft, Siddaramaiah said that while the PM keeps saying “Na khaunga, na khaney dunga (will neither take nor allow anyone to take bribes)”, he has gone completely silent even as Patil keeps looting Karnataka as the agriculture minister.
He said Patil never responded to the farmers’ problems, even when he raised the issues during the assembly sessions. “Farmers are facing a financial crisis due to crop losses across the state, but Patil hasn’t met their legitimate demands,” the Congress leader complained.
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