Worked with honesty, says K’taka Minister on reports of replacing CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Amid rumours that he may be the new Chief Minister, Karnataka Home Minister and prominent leader from the Dalit community G. Parameshwara said on Wednesday that he is a disciplined soldier of Congress and whenever the party gave him an opportunity he delivered honestly.

The statement comes amid speculation that he may be made the Chief Minister in case of the growing legal troubles of CM Siddaramaiah. The rumours have gained weight after Parameshwara met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on August 23.

However, Parameshwara refuted the speculation saying, “The question of me becoming the Chief Minister does not arise at all...That question won’t arise and I will not answer any such question,” he stated. When asked about his separate meeting with Rahul Gandhi, he said, “Rahul Gandhi had spoken to me separately and it is true. However, the media can’t speculate about the subject matter. I am also a Congress’ disciplined soldier. Whenever the party gave me an opportunity to work, I did it with full honesty. Rahul Gandhi has spoken to me about the matters of the party. There was no discussion as such.”

Talking about the pending court’s verdict on the prosecution against CM Siddaramaiah on Thursday, he stated, “We are hoping that the court in any way won’t consider the Governor’s decision because no material is there to substantiate. There is nothing to prove CM Siddaramaiah’s involvement such as his signatures, orders, involvement and his name is not there in the registration. When this is the case, the court will observe all this and give its verdict.”

“We will stand with CM Siddaramaiah as the high command has announced. The development can’t be predicted. The high command is of the opinion that once the court's decision comes, the future course of action would be discussed,” he stated.

When asked about the Congress government approaching the Supreme Court against the Governor for sending back 11 bills, Parameshwara stated, “The legal team is verifying on approaching the Supreme Court regarding the sending back of 11 bills by the Governor. We will have to see about that. We will first send the bills back to the Governor with the clarifications he had sought. If he is not satisfied, we will have to approach the President for that matter as well.”

Asked whether the Governor will heed to the demands of the Congress party, Parameshwara stated, “It is a different matter whether the Governor will oblige the demands of the Congress party. There is a need to organise the agitations ... Tomorrow one might state that if the legislators had to meet and brief him about the situation, he would have taken a different call. We want to explore the opportunity as well.”

Answering a question on BJP planning to stage protests at the national level, he said, “If they are planning a national level agitation, then we will also have to organise the protests at the national level. The high command will decide whether the Congress party alone is going to stage the agitation or it will be staged through the INDIA bloc. If BJP takes it to the national level, we will also certainly do it.”

On the issue of land allotment by the Karnataka Industrial Development Board (KIADB) to Minister for RDPR and IT and BT Priyank Kharge, Parameshwara stated, “Let the Governor examine the complaint and if there is anything against the law, let him take appropriate action. The application was submitted for the land allotment for a project. Anyone can make the submission after coming up with a company, project report and investment. The land will be allotted.”