Sting operation: Karnataka CM’s warning to ministers raises questions over credibility, claims BJP
Vijayapura (Karnataka): Karnataka BJP President and MLA, B.Y. Vijayendra, on Friday criticised the state government, saying reports that Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had warned his Cabinet colleagues to be cautious as BJP leaders might try to trap them, raised serious questions about the government’s credibility.
B.Y. Vijayendra alleged that corruption charges against the state government had increased and accused it of attempting to divert public attention from its administrative failures by targeting BJP workers through FIRs and other intimidation tactics.
Speaking to reporters in Vijayapura, Vijayendra alleged that the government had neglected farmers, the poor, youth and women while failing to deliver development. At a time when farmers were struggling with drought and the state’s financial condition was deteriorating, the government was resorting to intimidation to silence the Opposition, Vijayendra alleged.
“If the government is genuinely concerned about corruption, it should allow an impartial investigation. Allegations of corruption cannot be made to disappear by accusing the Opposition or registering cases against party workers,” he said, stressing the need for transparency and accountability in governance.
Vijayendra said the BJP was organising the ‘Seva Sankalpa Abhiyan’ across the country and Karnataka from September 17 to October 17 to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 25 years in public life. As part of the campaign, sanitation workers were felicitated in Vijayapura, he said.
He said that Modi had been engaged in public service since becoming Gujarat Chief Minister in 2001 and Prime Minister in 2014, and was working towards the country’s overall development for a third consecutive term.
He recalled that the BJP had organised the Ballari Chalo padayatra from Lingasugur to Ballari to highlight farmers’ distress and demand relief of Rs 50,000 per hectare, a farm loan waiver of up to Rs 5 lakh and eight hours of three-phase electricity supply daily for agricultural activities.
However, the government had failed to respond adequately to farmers’ problems, he alleged. Even the Rs 2,500 compensation announced for affected farming families had not been distributed properly, Vijayendra alleged.
Criticising Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Vijayendra said that expressing concern for farmers was not enough and that the government should demonstrate the same interest in resolving agricultural distress as it did in setting up townships.
Citing Maharashtra as an example, Vijayendra demanded a farm loan waiver in Karnataka. He also sought the release of pending incentives for milk producers announced during former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s tenure and an additional incentive of Rs 5 per litre for at least five months until the drought situation improved.
Farmers were facing crop losses, mounting debt and water shortages, while reports of suicides among distressed farmers were a matter of concern, he said.