After raids were conducted by the Income Tax Department on Karnataka Energy Minister DK Shivakumar's properties, his mother Gouramma has now hit out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for resorting to “petty vendetta”.
Protests erupted across the state where Congress workers claimed that the raids were politically motivated and held the BJP government responsible.
At 5 pm on Wednesday, the Income Tax sleuth raided Gouramma’s residence in Kanakapura taluk. She spoke to the media on Thursday after the raid ended and shocked journalists and Congress leaders as she took potshots at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“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.
Stating that her sons DK Shivakumar and DK Suresh are “good people”, Gowramma said that the “country would have improved on a much larger scale if all the others (politicians) were like her sons”.
“Some people are filled with hatred. Siddaramaiah boasts of Anna Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya and all the other bhagyas. Where did he get the money from? Did he obtain it from his father’s house? He took all the money from the farmers. People will never praise that. Why did Siddaramaiah not know these raids were happening? Why did he not question the central government for targeting my family? After all the damage is done, he came out and made a few statements. Who is going to believe that?” Gowramma questioned.
Stating that the I-T officials did not “trouble or intrude”, Gouramma said that the I-T officials were cordial. “What can I say, they were just doing their job. How can we condemn that?” she added.
“My sons are not like them (political leaders). They do not want to steal others’ money or dupe people. They are self-made and have worked hard for whatever they have earned till now. In this world, all bad things happen to good people and the bad ones get away. My sons are honest people. They have not done anything wrong. They will come out clean after this struggle,” Gowramma said.
Offering her thanks to the Energy Minister’s supporters, Gowramma said that support has been coming in not just from the Congress, but also the BJP and JD(S).
“Support has come from BJP and JD(S) as well. You (supporters) have supported us in troubled times and stood by my sons. They will be grateful for it,” she added.
However, Gouramma, also said that the raids could be conducted based on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“It could be him, and if it is, he will pay for it dearly someday,” she added.