Bengaluru: The latest war of words between chief minister S Siddaramaiah and legislative council’s leader of opposition K S Eswarappa over Arkavati and other issues has taken a new turn.
Eswarappa alleged that the recent issuance of mining licences had created huge losses to the government, making people wonder if the CM had received any kickbacks.
Siddaramaiah, responding to Eswarappa’s comment, said that the opposition leader did not have any high moral standing for speaking about corruption, when it was still in people’s memory that during a raid on his residence a few years ago, a note-counting machine had been found. It was widely publicized in the media.
Towards the end of 2012, the Karnataka Lokayukta had booked Eswarappa in a case of amassing of assets disproportionate to known sources of income.
The CM also reminded Eswarappa of different charges faced by the ministers and MLAs during the BJP rule, which led to the resignation and prosecution of a few of them.
Eswarappa went a step further this week and visited a temple in Mysuru, the home district of the chief minister, and offered a special puja so that the divine forces grant the CM good counsel.
A war of booklets also marked the exchange of allegations during the recent days. While the BJP and JD(S) brought out separate books on the Arkavati denotification issue, the Congress party too brought out a book with its version.