Belagavi (Karnataka), Oct 4 (IANS) Commenting on the statements by BJP leaders on leadership change in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah came down heavily on them on Saturday and stated that the issue of who holds the Chief Minister’s post is an internal matter of the Congress party.

He was speaking to reporters at Belagavi airport, where he had reached to inaugurate the super-speciality hospital at Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences on Saturday.

In response to a question about the Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka and BJP MLC C.T. Ravi’s remarks about the Chief Minister’s post, Siddaramaiah stated, “The issue of who holds the Chief Minister’s post is an internal matter of the Congress party. The BJP need not concern itself with it.”

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka stated on Friday that the power-sharing arrangement between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister, State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar, is “hundred per cent true.”

Ashoka claimed, “I have stated that there will be a November revolution and Siddaramaiah will become the outgoing CM. I stand by my words. Within November and December, there will be a revolution. There is no doubt. The power-sharing arrangement is hundred per cent true, and bickering has already started.”

When asked about reports that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had stated he would remain CM for five years, Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal responded on Saturday, “Every time I come to Karnataka, the same question and the same agenda is raised. It is the Congress party that has the authority to decide what should happen within our party. Leave that decision-making power to us. The party will take a decision when necessary.”

Responding to the allegations by R. Ashoka that NDRF funds were being diverted for guarantee schemes, CM Siddaramaiah further slammed the BJP stating that, “The success of guarantee schemes has caused anxiety within the BJP. The Congress government has stood by its word and is implementing the guarantees without fail.”

CM Siddaramaiah clarified that NDRF grants were not being used for guarantees.

“The BJP views everything through a jaundiced eye, and the success of our guarantee schemes has unsettled them. Our guarantees are being emulated in several states including Bihar, Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana. Prime Minister Modi had claimed that implementing guarantees was impossible. But the Congress government has stood by its word and is delivering the guarantees without fail,” CM Siddaramaiah said.

Expressing happiness on the inauguration, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “It is a matter of joy that the super-speciality hospital at Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) in Belagavi, for which the foundation stone was laid in 2017, has now been inaugurated. During the BJP’s tenure, this project did not materialise. The hospital’s management has not been handed over to any private organisation.”

–IANS

mka/rad