During the three-day raids conducted by the Income Tax Department on Karnataka Energy Minister DK Shivakumar, his mother Gowramma, whose house was also raided, had raised eyebrows with controversial statements blaming Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
However, speaking to reporters after the raids, Minister Shivakumar apologised to the Chief Minister on behalf of his mother.
“My mother is old and she is not as educated as many in this state. She does not know under whose jurisdiction the Income Tax Department falls under. The media has taken advantage of her innocence and deliberately incited into making such statements and made her speak against the Chief Minister. I apologise to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the people of Karnataka for my mother’s unintentional comments,” DK Shivakumar said.
The Energy Minister’s mother, Gowramma raised eyebrows after she said that Siddaramaiah had betrayed her son multiple times.
Her statements had not only shocked the media, but also the Congress leaders in the state as they had placed the blame on BJP’s shoulder.
Shivakumar’s mother had also said that her sons had enemies within the Congress party because of their success.
Coming to her quick defence, MP DK Suresh, Gouramma’s eldest, said that his mother “was under a lot of pressure due to the raids” and that she “did not mean anything she said”.
Quick to initiate damage control, Minister Shivakumar praised CM Siddaramaiah.
“He (CM Siddaramaiah) has stood by my side and encouraged me throughout my time as Minister. All the Congress leareds and party workers are people with good hearts. I thank all of them for supporting me in a time of crisis,” DK Shivakumar said.
An angry Gouramma, had lashed out at the chief Minister and said, “Siddaramaiah was always out to get my son. He could have been the one responsible for the raids. My son has openly said he aspires to be the CM one day. My son is a good person and he climbed up political ranks very quickly. He has many enemies inside the Congress. Siddaramaiah is jealous of my son’s success and wants to put him down. Siddaramaiah uses my son for his money,” an angry Gouramma said.
Calling Siddaramaiah a “back stabber”, Gowramma said that her son was in the process of gaining the goodwill of the people with his good work, and Siddaramaiah could not tolerate his success.
“Siddaramaiah grew in party ranks because of my son. He gets all the work done by my sons and takes a knife to their throats. Even if he is in the same party, I am not happy with Siddaramaiah’s behaviour towards my sons,” Gowramma said.