JOIN USSiddu lobbied for appointment of KPSC member, alleges HDK
In a fresh salvo against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy alleged on Wednesday that the chief minister had, in the past, successfully lobbied for the appointment of a member to the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC).
Kumaraswamy charged Siddaramaiah with misusing his power and said that the latter had made 1,600 recommendations to various departments for employing people.
Addressing a press conference here, Kumaraswamy alleged that in 1996 Siddaramaiah, who then held the post of deputy chief minister, had gone to great lengths to get Mukudappa (who later went on to become the president of Ahinda - Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and dalits) appointed as member of the KPSC.
“In 1996, despite the then chief minister J H Patel urging Siddaramaiah to not pursue the candidature of Mukudappa, Siddaramaiah was adamant about it. He even approached then prime minister H D Deve Gowda to confirm Mukudappa’s appointment. This is the same person who is today casting aspersions on me for having vested interests in opposing the government decision to reject the KPSC list,” Kumaraswamy said.
Recalling his meeting with Patel, Kumaraswamy said that the then chief minister had asked him to ‘put some sense’ into Siddaramaiah, so that he does not pursue the appointment of Mukudappa to the KPSC.
“Siddaramaiah pursued the appointment for nearly six months. This, after Patel had told that Mukudappa’s track record was very suspicious and he was corrupt. Let him state why he was hell bent on getting such a person appointed to a constitutional post,” said Kumaraswamy.
Bid to influence
Kumaraswamy reiterated that Siddaramaiah had called a KPSC member 72 times during March-May 2013.
“He misused his position of being an Ahinda leader for getting his own people appointed to various posts, during his tenure as deputy chief minister in the Patel Cabinet and later during Dharam Singh’s tenure,” alleged Kumaraswamy.
Kumaraswamy said that Dr Mythri had called C A Simon, the CID investigating officer, six times during the investigation.
“Why was a candidate speaking to the IO during investigation? She also called the so-called constitutional expert of the Congress, V S Ugrappa, no less than 10 times during the same period. This shows a conspiracy in the entire scam,” said Kumaraswamy.
The JD(S) leader, who was instrumental in the downfall of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, said that the decline of the Congress regime has begun. “They will fall 10 times quicker than the BJP regime,” said Kumaraswamy.