Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday alleged that the central government is attempting to imprison Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by "digging out small things" against the opposition while protecting its own members involved in "big crimes." Rao's comments come in response to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot's show cause notice to Siddaramaiah regarding the MUDA site allotment 'scam,' in which the CM's wife, Parvathi, is allegedly a beneficiary.
“They (BJP leaders) are misusing the governor, Income Tax (dept), Directorate of Enforcement only to topple the government. You know what they tried to do in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Delhi, West Bengal and Kerala,” Rao told reporters in Dakshina Kannada district, according to a report on PTI.
Rao highlighted the Governor's quick action highlighting that the show-cause notice was served to Siddaramaiah within hours of receiving a complaint from advocate-activist T.J. Abraham. He argued that the Governor should have verified whether the Chief Minister was involved in the MUDA allotments before issuing the notice.
Further, Rao alleged that the central government misuses its machinery to destabilize non-BJP state governments by creating confusion, making false accusations, and pressuring opposition leaders. “There is an undeclared emergency in the country,” he stated, pointing out that the BJP-led Centre had jailed Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and former union minister P. Chidambaram.
“These Central agencies do not touch BJP leaders. Instead, they (BJP leaders) are protected. If others make a small mistake, the BJP goes after them. In Siddaramaiah’s case, they want him to be jailed,” Rao charged, as per the report.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday accused the Governor of acting as a "puppet" of the central government and the BJP-JD(S) alliance.