‘We have given scam-free governance’: Siddaramaiah

Taking a series of digs at some of the leaders of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the BJP had no moral right to comment on a State government that had administered “scam-free governance” in the last four years, and had fulfilled a majority of the promises made in its election manifesto. He was addressing a convention organised to mark the completion of four years of the Congress government in the State here on Saturday, during which beneficiaries of various government schemes were given certificates. The Chief Minister took the names of BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa, and Union Minister Ananth Kumar and said they should remember that they themselves were facing corruption charges. “Such being the case, they don’t have any moral right to comment on the Congress which has had a scam-free governance,” he said. Mr. Siddaramaiah said the people who were aware of these facts had been supporting the Congress continuously. “During the bypolls there was a misinformation campaign by the BJP, with its leaders making baseless allegations against Congress candidates. Congress, on the other hand, focussed on emphasising its development works. Finally the people favoured the Congress,” he said. Listing out the achievements of the Congress government, Mr. Siddaramaiah said of the 165 promises made in its election manifesto, it had already fulfilled 155 of the. The rest would be fulfilled in the coming months. He added that the party’s priority had been to fulfil its election promises, even while preparing the budget. Home Minister G. Parameshwara elaborated on the government’s achievements and chose the occasion to clarify that the party would face the next Assembly elections under the leadership of Mr. Siddaramaiah. BJP has no moral right to point a finger at us Dr. Parameshwara also called on party workers and supporters to begin poll preparations immediately by way of highlighting development works and social welfare initiatives of the government. “The State government has spent around ₹64,000 crores for irrigation projects in the last four years and its priority has been to tackle the drought situation in the State. People are watching all the developments very closely and will teach a befitting lesson to the BJP in coming Assembly elections,” he said. Earlier ministers H. Anjaneya, D.K. Shivkumar, S.S. Mallikarjun, Kagodu Thimappa, Umashri and MP B N Chandrappa spoke on the party, its welfare measures and development works and exuded confidence that the people would teach a lesson to BJP by continuing their support to Congress party.