Kumaraswamy alleges plot against Kharge's family

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday alleged a conspiracy against Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge’s family in Kalaburagi.

Kumaraswamy was addressing the gathering after releasing the books 'Samudaya Nayakaru' and 'Samajamukhi Srisamanyaru,' authored by journalist Amshi Prasanna Kumar here.

The chief minister said there was a conspiracy to finish off Kharge’s family, similar to the attempts made to finish off JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda’s family.

Defending his son K Nikhil’s candidature from Mandya Lok Sabha segment, he said, Nikhil was fielded owing to pressure from the party leaders and the workers and also to protect the party.

Commenting on the Backward Classes Welfare Minister Puttaranga Shetty’s statement that he wished to see CLP leader Siddaramaiah as chief minister, Kumaraswamy said, “Is it wrong for him to express his desire. He said Kumaraswamy is the CM and I want to see Siddaramaiah as the CM in future.”

The CM reiterated that the coalition government was stable and MLAs, ministers from both JD(S) and Congress were united. The government functions under the guidance of CLP leader Siddaramaiah and other leaders, he said.

Kumaraswamy took the opportunity to blame the electronic media for "defaming the politicians and the state government. The electronic media is misusing the names of the politicians for TRP. What do you think of the politicians. Earlier, I was the first person to reach out to the media. But now, I feel it is dangerous to make any statements before them. I have decided to stay away from the media and their speculative stories,” he said.

Commenting on a few channels that aired a 30-minute programme 'Nikhil Yellidiyappa,' he said, "Why do you depend on the politicians. If you can’t run the channel, close it. There is a need for a strict law to control a few programmes on TV. The channels should think about telecasting constructive news rather than speculative stories. Media plays a significant role and have a huge responsibility."

Kumaraswamy criticised the media for not highlighting the 800 houses constructed by the government for the flood victims of Kodagu. Instead, the channels ensure that the visits of politicians to resorts and temples are announced as breaking news.

Ministers G T Devegowda, Sa Ra Mahesh, C Puttaranga Shetty, MP R Dhruvanarayan, MLAs A H Vishwanath, Tanveer Sait, Anil Chikkamadu, L Nagendra and others were present.