BSY not in jail due to BJP rule at Centre, says Siddaramaiah

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday slammed state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, who had accused him of paying Rs 1,000 crore to the Congress high command to retain his position, saying the latter had no moral values.

Speaking to reporters at the Mysuru airport, Siddaramaiah said the former chief minister was facing 15 charges and was also imprisoned on corruption charges. After BJP came to power at the Centre, Yeddyurappa managed to get the cases against him quashed.

“He (Yeddyurappa) would have been in jail, if the BJP was not in power,” Siddaramaiah said. Yeddyurappa should make comments with relevant documents to prove the  charges, he said, warning that he would launch a legal fight against the former chief minister. Later speaking to mediapersons, the chief minister said he would resign if Yeddyurappa can prove the charges.

Exuding confidence about winning majority of seats in the Assembly elections in 2018, Siddaramaiah said, “I will present seven more budgets, including two of this tenure.” When Congress came to power in the state in 2013, many predicted that the government would not complete five years’ tenure.

Siddaramaiah said the government will regularise the services of civic workers in phases. Their salary would be increased to Rs 14,000 from the existing Rs 7,000, he said.

Speaking to reporters at Halahalli in Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district, Siddaramaiah sought to know why Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not resign when charges were made that notes written on paper said Sahara and Birla paid kickbacks to the prime minister.

Siddaramaiah said the Supreme Court had declared that any information on a white paper could not be accepted as evidence. “I have no connection with the diary that has been recovered from somebody’s house,” he said. “Yeddyurappa has alleged that I have taken a bribe of Rs 150 crore for the construction of a steel bridge in Bengaluru. This is baseless,” he said.