Karnataka Minister slams BJP, accuses it of trying to destabilise Siddaramaiah govt

Bengaluru, Sep 11 (IANS) Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Wednesday that BJP and its leaders are indulging in issuing statements like the government here will collapse by the Diwali festival as they are not able to tolerate the stable Congress government in the state.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Rao stated further, “They (BJP) are not able to tolerate that a stable government is in place in the state. Secondly, it is BJP’s agenda to create instability throughout the country. They indulge in bringing down the governments, breaking the political parties and taking up Operation Lotus.”

It has become a habit for them to talk on these lines. They won’t speak about getting justice for Karnataka state. The BJP leaders are not bothered about bringing the due projects to Karnataka and funds that are supposed to come to the state from the Centre. Instead, their main agenda has been to create confusion in the state, Minister Rao charged.

“There is no such thing as CM Siddaramaiah’s fate is going to be decided by the court. The CM is going to remain in his position and continue his governance. Nothing’s going to happen. There are no leaders in CM’s race. BJP is carrying out a campaign in this matter as they are experts in spreading lies,” maintained Rao.

“CM Siddaramaiah has not misused his powers. We have a hundred per cent faith and trust in him. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot is acting as a puppet in the hands of the central government. With the haste in which he had sanctioned prosecution against CM Siddaramaiah is questioned as requests for prosecution against Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, former BJP ministers Shashikala Jolle and Murugesh Nirani are pending for a long time,” Rao stated.

“No action is taken in those matters. However, the Governor issued the show-cause notice on the same day to the CM, acting on a private complaint. What is the mindset of the Governor? He is biased. There is no mistake on the part of the CM. The matter before the court is not whether the CM has committed wrong. It is simple, whether the sanction given by the Governor for the investigation is right or wrong. There is no matter saying CM Siddaramaiah has committed wrong before the court,” Rao pointed out.

When asked about rural hospitals lacking in required materials and medicines in the state, Minister Rao stated, “We have all materials, it is wrong to say that we don’t have them at hospitals. How is it possible for hospitals to run if there are no materials? The process of mandatory posting in rural areas is taking place. We will fill up all vacancies. We have advised to take expert doctors on board on a contract basis wherever it is required.”

“At many places, doctors are not coming forward due to our quoted contract amount. We will have to look at the matter differently. The menace of fake doctors has existed for a long time. We have issued instructions for our officers to initiate action. In fact, we have asked them to initiate merciless action wherever it is necessary. The new bill passed recently by the Congress government deals with quacks,” he said.