Siddaramaiah goes all out against BJP leaders

The campaigning seems to be becoming personal by the day, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah addressing BJP leaders in the singular and calling them shameless, at an election rally on Tuesday.

Siddaramaiah went on a whirlwind tour of Bangalore North Lok Sabha segment, addressing four election rallies at different corners of the constituency, campaigning for party candidate C Narayan­aswamy. The turnout at the rallies was moderate. 

Speaking at Hegganahalli, coming under the Dasarahalli Assembly segment of the constituency, Siddaramaiah went ballistic against several BJP leaders including Narendra Modi, B S Yeddyurappa, Katta Subramanya Naidu, Janardhana Reddy, M P Renukacharya, S A Ramdas, Lakshman Savadi, C C Patil and Krishna Palemar. However, the chief minister did not talk about the merits of the Congress candidate and why they should vote for him. 

Siddaramaiah charged that the BJP leaders not just lacked sincerity, but were also shameless. 

“If they had an iota of sincerity, would Yeddyurappa and Katta have gone to jail? Janardhana Reddy is still languishing in jail,” Siddaramaiah said. The chief minister said Yeddyurappa had earned the State a bad name by going to jail. 

“No chief minister in the State has gone to jail. It is a disgrace. The BJP leaders are also shameless. Hartal Halappa’s friend invites him home for dinner and you know what he did,” Siddaramaiah said referring to the rape charges against the former minister.

Siddaramaiah then invoked the porngate to convey what he thinks about the BJP. He said that when he was discussing the drought situation in the Assembly, three ministers were watching porn on a cell phone. 

“Still, the BJP claims to be a protector of culture,” he said. He then trained his guns on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, stating that the Gujarat chief minister can never become prime minister. 

The chief minister sought to know the contribution of BJP candidate D V Sadananda Gowda to the constituency, as chief minister. Someone in the audience said Gowda, as chief minister, had come to the constituency once, to get himself felicitated. “See, they do nothing, but want to be felicitated,” he said. 

Former union minister C M Ibrahim, in his typical racy style, dubbed Gowda as an “import”, who should be sent back home. Ibrahim was referring to the charge that Gowda was not from the constituency and hence, is an outsider. He referred to senior leader Jaffer Sharief’s recent flip-flop with the JD(S). 

“Sharief is a senior leader and we respect him. But he should not embarrass the party,” he said. Siddaramaiah also addressed rallies at Seegehalli on Magadi Road, HMT Grounds in Hebbal and in Pulakeshinagar.