Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 5 : Reacting to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's statement that with the blessings of the people, the record of former Chief Minister Devaraja Urs would be broken, Union Minister for Heavy Industries & Steel, H D Kumaraswamy asked what merit does the Chief Minister have and said that looking at the condition of the State, his record deserved to be buried.
Addressing a press conference at the JD(S) State office, JP Bhavan, H D Kumaraswamy said that Siddaramaiah, who boasts of having administered the State for a long time, is in fact a textbook example of bad governance. He expressed anguish, stating that Siddaramaiah's administrative record deserves to be consigned to dust.
"Karnataka, which once stood as a testimony to good governance, has today become an example of inefficiency and poor administration. Where is Devaraj Urs, and where are these people? Forget about breaking Urs' record; he himself will be the last Chief Minister of the Congress party in this State. Voters will teach Congress a lesson. Those who claim they will win the next election will be taught a fitting lesson by the electorate," he warned.
"The last two-and-a-half years of governance will go down in history as one of the worst administrations. Corruption, murder, extortion, drug mafia activities and honour killings have continued unabated. Unable to curb any of this, it appears that Siddaramaiah's government is functioning merely for the sake of setting records. Officers have been reduced to slaves. Under this administration, officials are working like bonded labourers, with no freedom whatsoever. You won't find a single good officer," he said, launching a scathing attack.
On the issue of law and order in the State, the Union Minister said that the Chief Minister and the Home Minister are behaving like impostors. "The Home Minister does not even understand the authority of his office. Whenever an incident occurs, they wash their hands of it by forming an SIT and speaking softly," he charged.
Earlier, addressing reporters in Mysuru, Siddaramaiah said Devaraja Urs hailed from Mysuru district, and so does he. "With the blessings of the people, his record will be broken. There is no comparison between me and him. The situation was different then, and it is different now. Circumstances brought me this far," he said.
Kumaraswamy demanded strict action against miscreants who pelted stones at devotees wearing Om Shakti garlands and in a procession at JJ Nagar in Bengaluru. Strongly condemning the incident, the Union Minister said that when stones are thrown at women devotees who have set out on an Om Shakti yatra, it reflects how far law and order in the State has deteriorated. He held the government's conduct responsible for such incidents.
DCP West Bengaluru, Yatish N on Monday said, "Last evening, there was a small procession of Om Shakti devotees in a locality, and during the procession, there was a complaint that somebody had pelted a stone and the stone had fallen on one lady, and she was injured. Based on that complaint, we registered an FIR last night and started investigations. It was found that three boys were involved in this incident. We picked them up, questioned them, and we are taking legal action against them. All the boys are between 14 and 15."