Siddaramaiah will be defeated in Chamundeshwari: Prasad

BJP state vice president and former minister V Srinivas Prasad asserted that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would be defeated in Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency.

"The BJP will field a candidate. It will be a triangular fight between the BJP, the JD(S) and the Congress. The strategy to defeat Siddaramaiah is a secret," he said.

Addressing a media conference, here, on Tuesday, he said that the people of Chamundeshwari constituency have already decided to trounce Siddaramaiah. "People are fed up with his audacity and arrogance. Like in the by-polls to Nanjangud and Gundlupet constituencies, last year, Siddaramaiah is expected to resort to all malpractices to win the polls. He was claiming that he can win from Chamundeshwari even without visiting it. But, he has already camped in the constituency for five days. The election commission should keep a close watch on his electioneering in Chamundeshwari constituency," he said.

Pointing at the socialist tag attached to Siddaramaiah, Prasad said, "Now he has started receiving 750 kg apple garlands. Given that he used to wear an Rs 80 lakh worth watch, the apple garland is not a big deal."

Appreciating the reactions of Siddaramaiah, District in-charge Minister H C Mahadevappa and Chamarajanagar MP R Dhruvanarayan to his recent book on Nanjangud byelections, Prasad said that the chief minister's response that he should go to the law court and the Election Commission to complain about the malpractices in the elections is not appropriate. "I have gone to the court of the people, which is above all courts in a democracy. If these leaders find that my allegations in the book against them are far from the truth, they should go to the court to prove that I am wrong," he said.

"Mahadevappa clarified that neither money power nor the official machinery was misused for the victory of Congress candidate Kalale Keshavamurthy in the Nanjangud by-polls, last year. However, when a section of the Congress workers complained that Keshavamurthy was neglecting them, Mahadevappa himself said that the Congress, which spent hundreds of crores for his victory, does not expect such behaviour from Keshavamurthy. What does that mean?" he asked.

Marigowda instance

Referring to Siddaramaiah's often repeated statement that the BJP is lead by B S Yeddyurappa, who went to jail, Prasad said, Yeddyurappa is acquitted in all cases, but Siddaramaiah is followed everywhere by K Marigowda, who is facing charges of intimidating IAS officer C Shikha, who was then Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru.

"Siddaramaiah lied to the Legislative Assembly that he has no relationship with Marigowda. But, Marigowda, Siddaramaiah's late son Rakesh and Siddaramaiah's Deputy Secretary P Ramaiah were the ones who called the shots in the transfer of officials when I was district in-charge minister. As I understood the support of Siddaramaiah to their deeds, I kept silent on the issue," Prasad said.

"Not only Shikha, another IAS officer Rashmi was a victim of the arrogance of the state government. An attempt to kill Rashmi was made as the police failed to do their duty. Upright officials have no safety in Siddaramaiah's government. The officials are so fed up that even the president of the IPS officers association complained of political interference. Tainted IPS officer Kempaiah is the trusted man of Siddaramaiah. Having been party to such misdeeds, Siddaramaiah had the audacity to compare himself to the Wadiyar kings," he said.

Admitting that the recent Supreme Court order on relaxation in the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act would weaken the law, Prasad said that the Centre has already filed a review petition.

"If the court does not heed the review petition, the Parliament can amend the Act to safeguard the interest of the SC and ST communities. The protests and violence were not called for," he said.

Atrocity on Dalits

In reply to a question, he said that the rise in atrocity on Dalits depends on the people's mentality.

"It has nothing to do with the governments. May be the atrocity on Dalits in BJP-ruled states are on the rise. But, it is also on the rise in Karnataka, ruled by the Congress.
Recently, even in Communist-ruled Kerala, a Dalit woman was brutally raped and killed," he said.

On his son-in-law seeking a BJP ticket to contest from Nanjangud Assembly constituency, he said, he will not lobby for anybody.