Speculations on Siddaramaiah's Replacement Gain Ground as Son Appeals for Congress Support in Lok Sabha Polls
Bengaluru: Speculations on replacement of Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister got credence on Wednesday after his son and former Congress MLA Yathindra appealed to the voters to support the Congress party in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls to help Siddaramaiah continue as Chief Minister for full term without any hassles.
Earlier in Bengaluru, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka on Wednesday stated that the days of Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister of Karnataka are numbered. Siddaramaiah became the Chief Minister for the second time in May this year and speculations are rife that he would be replaced after the Lok Sabha polls.
At a public function in Hassan, Yathindra, addressing the gathering, that the ensuing Lok Sabha polls would be held under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Karnataka and asked the voters to support the Congress party to win more number of seats which would also help in the continuance of 5-guarantee schemes such as free travel for women in State run buses, upto 200 units of free power to a household, unemployment allowance for unemployed graduates and diploma holders, 10 kg of rice for BPL/Antyodaya card holders and Rs 2,000 cash benefit scheme every month for a female head of a family.
The Congress party has assured 5-guarantees prior to coming to power in Karnataka and all the guarantees have been implemented by Siddaramaiah government in a year’s time, said Yathindra and lauded his father for “Walk the Talk.”
He told the gathering that the State Government is spending about Rs 56,000 crore a year on the implementation of 5-guarantee schemes and stated that no other State Government had done so much for people welfare schemes in the past.
In Bengaluru, Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka stated at a press conference that Siddaramaiah would step down as Chief Minister in six months or a year and said that president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had sent a clear message on replacement of Siddaramaiah when he stated on the floor of the Assembly that the forthcoming State budget would be presented by the Congress party and not by Siddaramaiah who holds the Finance portfolio.
Reacting to Yathindra’s statement, D.K. Shivakumar in Bengaluru told the reporters that the ensuing Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka would be fought under the leadership of Siddaramaiah and him as the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. He said he found nothing wrong in the statement made by Yathindra.
