Bengaluru, May 26 (IANS) Slamming the decision to file a defamation case in connection with a newspaper advertisement that highlighted the government’s alleged failures, Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi stated that the Karnataka government was acting worse than any dictator.

Joshi taking to X, stated on Monday, “The Congress government, which claims to follow the Constitution and the ideas of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, is acting worse than any dictator.”

“Is silencing people’s voices a part of the Constitution, CM Siddaramaiah? Why are you and Dy CM D.K. Shivakumar so afraid of hearing criticism? Why does talking about your failures, corruption and the damage to Karnataka’s economy and politics scare you?” Joshi alleged in the post.

“Trying to intimidate news channel anchors by sending extraordinary police force only shows your fear and your frustration in hiding your failures. It looks like you’re just trying to cling to power, Mr. Siddaramaiah,” Joshi slammed.

“We see your desperation. But Karnataka will never accept this dictatorship-like attitude or Mughal-style rule,” he underlined.

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, while speaking to the media in Bengaluru on Monday at the BJP headquarters, said the government has no moral ground to file a defamation case against the party.

Responding to questions, he criticised the state government, saying that despite announcing five guarantees, they have only reached a limited number of people.

“Yet, the Congress government is trying to drag its five-year term in the name of these guarantees,” he claimed.

“They have completed two years without any notable achievements. We had already said this so-called ‘Sadhana Samavesha (achievement convention)’ would be an event filled with empty claims,” he professed.

“They didn’t even bother to inspect the damage caused by recent rains in Bengaluru. Even after five people died in the rain, the government showed no concern. It’s becoming clear that this government values only power, not the lives or dignity of people,” he alleged.

“You’re filing cases against us now. But when we were in power, you (Congress) made baseless allegations against us. Now we are only highlighting how your government has increased prices — from milk to alcohol. Is there any falsehood in this? Did you pass on the increased milk prices to farmers?” he asked.

“We respect the judiciary. We will fight this case legally. But you cannot silence us through court cases,” he challenged.

Narayanaswamy questioned why the Chief Minister did not attend the recent NITI Aayog meeting. “You sit here and keep saying the Centre isn’t giving funds. Then why didn’t you go to the meeting? Were you afraid?” he asked.

“All other Chief Ministers attended the meeting and presented their demands. If you say that funds are not being released, then you should have gone and made your case. The Central government allocates resources as per requirement. But you mislead people,” he said.

He also questioned the government’s decision to close Jan Aushadhi (generic medicine) centres in government hospitals in the state. “Was it because you weren’t getting commissions on medicine purchases? Or is it because you want to get commissions from private suppliers?” he asked.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had opened Jan Aushadhi centres in government hospitals to benefit the poor. Now you are removing those centres that provide subsidised medicines, thereby depriving the poor. If you reject central funding like this, why do you expect any support from the Centre? Run the government with your own resources,” he remarked.

The Karnataka government had issued a notification on Sunday stating that a decision had been made to file a defamation case with the 42nd Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court (CMM) against the false campaign against the government.

The government further stated that it had appointed the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) to file the case and appointed public prosecutors B.S. Patil and Shailaja Nayak to argue the case.

The government had also appointed Kumata Prakash, Deputy Secretary of the DPAR department, to coordinate between different departments and provide all inputs and documents in the case to the public prosecutors.

–IANS

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