Shivakumar accuses Yediyurappa of vindictive politics
Bengaluru: A miffed senior Congress legislator D.K. Shivakumar on Friday accused Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa of indulging in vindictive politics by targeting him and other opposition leaders.
“Though Yediyurappa vowed not to play revenge politics when he took over as the BJP Chief Minister for the fourth time recently (July 26), he demonstrated vindictiveness by cancelling or stopping funds to several development projects that were sanctioned by our JD(S)-Congress coalition government,” Shivakumar told reporters.
Blaming the ruling party’s state and central leaders for unleashing probe agencies like the Income Tax (I-T) Department, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on him, Shivkumar said Yediyurappa and BJP President Amit Shah were after him for saving his party (Congress) from many crisis and preventing its former Gujarat MLAs from horse-trading in July-August 2017 during the Rajya Sabha by-elections in the western state, in which veteran party leader Ahmed Patel had retained the seat.
“Though our coalition government has approved the setting up of a medical college at Ramanagara in my Kanakapura assembly segment and the initial funds were also allocated in the state budget for fiscal 2019-20, Yediyurappa has ordered cancelling the medical college as it was coming up in our place,” lamented Shivakumar.
Urging the Chief Minister to restore the medical college project and allot funds for its construction, Shivakumar said the month-old BJP government had stalled many infrastructure, irrigation and development projects in most of the Assembly constituencies of Congress and JD-S legislators across the state.
“I will give Yediyurappa time till Saturday to withdraw the cancellation orders and revive the projects that were sanctioned by our government during its 14-month tenure. If he does not respond, I will stage a protest demonstration at the Gandhi statue in Vidhan Souda (state secretariat),” Shivakumar said.
