Mangaluru: Much significance was attached to a scheduled day-long visit of chief minister Siddaramaiah to the district on Friday. He was to be at the finale of the celebrations of sainthood of Father Joseph Vaz at Mudipu and also at the inauguration of a national-level athletic meet at Moodbidri.
But since the state government had declared a day of mourning of Friday as a mark of respect to former state governor Rameshwar Thakur, as part of the protocol and in accordance with norms, Siddaramaiah could not take part in any programmes. After arriving in the city, he cancelled his visits to both the places.
Large crowds which had gathered at both centres, besides the organizers, were disappointed. Security arrangements en route to both venues had been made.
However, the CM made a brief stopover at the circuit house ahead of his return flight to Bengaluru. He responded to various questions from the mediapersons.
On the formation of Bharatiya Hindu Parishat in Puttur:
‘The Congress party has no connections with the new outfit. Our party is committed to secularism and it does not support any religion-based organization. The party will look into the development that has taken place in Puttur.’
On the ongoing debate on a Dalit chief minister:
‘I am the CM for five years and I will serve my full term.’
On the controversial Kasturirangan report:
‘A ministerial sub-committee has been formed. It will visit the areas mentioned in the report and gather people’s and elected representatives’ views and submit its report. It is up to the Union government to accept or reject the report. The deadline to submit the report is still two months away.’
On BJP’s allegations regarding Arkavati denotification:
‘The denotification in Arkavati took place during the BJP rule. After our government took over, not a single denotification has taken place. I have asserted this facts and figures in the state assembly. The BJP leaders are playing politics over this issue. If they have any concrete proof, let them submit to the investigation committee headed by retired high court judge Kempanna. All records have been provided to the investigation committee, with proof that the denotification was done during the tenure of the BJP government.’
On his recent visit to Delhi, over which there were speculations about Arkavati denotification:
‘My visit to Delhi was for the purpose of the conveying Sankranti wishes to the party president and the vice president. There was no mention of the Arkavati denotification there. I have not done anything against law. Where does the question of anything being illegal?’
The CM was welcomed by ministers Abhayachandra Jain, U T Khader and Sharanappa Patil, city mayor Mahabala Marla, MLA Mohiuddin, MLC Ivan D’Souza, deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim, city police commissioner S Murugan and many others.
