Bengaluru, Oct 14 (IANS) Karnataka Water Resources Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy over the ongoing sting operation controversy, questioning his allegations against Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and challenging him to get the matter investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Reacting to Kumaraswamy’s allegation that Shivakumar was behind the alleged sting operation targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Cheluvarayaswamy questioned why Shivakumar would orchestrate such an operation against a senior leader of his own party.
“Has Shivakumar gone mad to arrange a sting operation against a senior leader of his own party? A testing machine should be used to find out whether Kumaraswamy has been sleeping since the day Shivakumar became Chief Minister. People are disgusted with the way Kumaraswamy is behaving,” he said sarcastically.
The Minister said Kumaraswamy was a Union Cabinet Minister, but his statements show that he was not performing his duties. He questioned the public relevance of the sting operation controversy and said the government would not remain a mute spectator if any wrongdoing came to light.
“If such a sting operation has taken place and the details have been exposed, action will be taken against those responsible, and an investigation will follow. Let the sting operation be conducted against anyone. The Centre has the CBI, so let it conduct an investigation through the agency,” he said.
Cheluvarayaswamy accused Kumaraswamy of unnecessarily dragging the sting operation issue into the political debate and alleged that the Union Minister was showing sympathy towards former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.
Cheluvarayaswamy said he had not expected Kumaraswamy, with whom he had shared the political stage for years, to stoop to such a level.
“We have been in politics together. There can be thousands of political differences and rivalries, but I never expected him to stoop so low. Every morning, he gets up and speaks about such indecent issues. Looking at his statements, one feels that this must come to an end someday. How that end will come is not in our hands,” he said.
Defending Siddaramaiah, the Minister said the Chief Minister’s political journey, leadership and public life were well known, and questioned whether there was any credible evidence to damage his reputation.
“Siddaramaiah’s history is not like Kumaraswamy’s. If Siddaramaiah had a past like Kumaraswamy’s, we would have accepted it. We are ready to accept our mistakes, and we will also accept Siddaramaiah’s mistakes,” he said.
Cheluvarayaswamy alleged that people could be provoked into making statements against political leaders and questioned why the allegations were surfacing now when Siddaramaiah had earlier served as Chief Minister.
He accused Kumaraswamy of attempting to create confusion within Congress and damage Siddaramaiah’s image through what he termed a “sting operation drama”.
“Who other than the JD(S) could have done this? Kumaraswamy had shown no such concern when Siddaramaiah was pushed out of the party or repeatedly ridiculed in the past. Why has this sympathy suddenly emerged now?” he asked.
On whether the state Cabinet would discuss the controversy, Cheluvarayaswamy said the Chief Minister and the ministers would collectively decide on the course of action if the issue came up at the next Cabinet meeting.
He added that the state government would consider an investigation if necessary, but challenged Kumaraswamy to initiate a probe through the Union government.
“Isn’t the government at the Centre more powerful than ours? If he has the courage, let him get the sting operation investigated by the Central government,” he said.
–IANS
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