Bengaluru, May 11 (IANS) Karnataka Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka on Monday hit back at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his speech delivered in Bengaluru, accusing the Congress government of being paralysed by internal power struggles and factional politics.​

In a strongly worded statement, Ashoka said PM Modi’s remarks had “clearly unsettled” Siddaramaiah because the Prime Minister had spoken about what “7 crore Kannadigas are feeling every single day about the power-sharing circus and constant infighting that has paralysed your government from day one.”​

Defending the Prime Minister’s comments, Ashoka clarified that the event held at HAL Airport in Bengaluru on Sunday was not an official government function but a political programme organised by the BJP’s Karnataka unit to celebrate the party’s electoral victories in West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry.​

“Yesterday’s event at HAL Airport was not a government function. It was a BJP programme organised by lakhs of dedicated karyakartas. At a political event, the Prime Minister has every democratic right to make political remarks,” Ashoka stated.​

The BJP leader also accused Siddaramaiah of hypocrisy for questioning the Prime Minister’s “dignity” and “decorum” in political speeches.​

“It is ironic that you are lecturing others about dignity and decorum. The same Siddaramaiah who politicises even the Budget speech, turns the Governor’s address into a Congress pamphlet, and attacks constitutional institutions daily, is now suddenly preaching parliamentary propriety,” he said.​

Ashoka further demanded that the Chief Minister answer what he called the “real questions troubling Karnataka,” including allegations of a power struggle within the Congress government.​

“Why is your government paralysed by CM-chair bargaining? Why are Congress leaders openly fighting for power every day? Why has governance taken a backseat to factional politics?” he questioned.​

Concluding his statement, Ashoka asserted that PM Modi had “spoken the truth,” adding that this was what had hurt the Chief Minister the most.​

–IANS

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