A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case against the Bengaluru Development Minister Minister KJ George in relation to the suicide of Mangaluru DySP K Ganapathy, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defended the minister against demands of resignation.
Stating that there is no question of Minister George influencing the CBI probe in any way, the CM lashed out at BJP and accused the saffron party of politicising the issue.
“There is no question of KJ George resigning. The CBI is controlled by the government of India, therefore the charges levied by BJP are politically motivated to tarnish the image of KJ George and the Karnataka government. Since elections are approaching, they are politicising the issue and we will reply to them politically. An FIR is not proof of the allegation,” CM Siddaramaiah added.
In response to the opposition’s demand, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a meeting on Friday with senior Congress leaders to discuss the issue.
“This is an old FIR. CBI action is in continuation of the FIR which was filed when the CID was investigating the case. He (Minister KJ George) had already resigned and later reinstated after the CID filed a B report based on the same FIR and gave him a clean chit,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said.
The Chief Minister went on to list names of BJP leaders including Ministers, MPs and MLAs who have criminal cases filed against them but are still in positions of power.
“There are so many ministers in the central government who have FIRs filed against them for various charges. 20 BJP ministers are facing criminal charges and 8 of them are of the cabinet rank. If the BJP is demanding that Minister George resign based on an FIR then all these cabinet ministers must also resign,” CM Siddaramaiah said.
Based on the affidavits filed by BJP leaders, there are 11 Union Ministers who have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to attempt to murder, inciting communal disharmony and electoral violations, 4 of whom were in the cabinet, the CM said.
“Among the newly elected cabinet ministers, Dr Ramshankar Katheria from Agra constituency has declared a case related to attempt to murder. Among the rest of the ministers, Uma Bharti from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh of BJP had also declared a case related to attempt to murder. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adithyanath has three cases against him including attempted murder. It has been found that 34.7 per cent (98 of 282) of the BJP’s MPs have criminal charges against them, 11 MPs have cases for attempt to murder, 13 MPs have cases related to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony (IPC Section-153A),” the CM added.
Reacting strongly to the issue, BJP leaders demanded that KJ George resign from the cabinet.
“When the CID filed an FIR against him, KJ George had resigned from his post as Home Minister. Now the CBI has filed an FIR. Why is he not resigning? It is obvious that he will influence the course of the investigation,” said BJP state President, BS Yeddyurappa.
Demanding Minister George’s resignation, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje said that the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was “harbouring a criminal”.
“Why is Chief Minister Siddaramaiah persisting that KJ George has not done anything wrong? Does CM Siddaramaiah have something to hide? Of course, KJ George must resign. We cannot have a murder accused in the state cabinet,” she added.