BJP trains guns at CM for skipping meet with PM Modi

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s absence at the National Development Council (NDC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday has come under fire from BJP.

“Siddaramaiah stayed away from the NDC meeting in which Chief Ministers of all the states participated because he was apprehensive about the possibility of Modi raising the issue of serial suicides of police officers in the state that would have embarrassed Siddaramaiah,” BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa said on Sunday.

Addressing a convention of BJP workers at Byatarayanapura on Sunday, Yeddyurappa said BJP will continue its agitation both inside and outside the Legislature till Bengaluru Development minister K J George quits and an FIR is filed against him and two IPS officers — A M Prasad and Pronab Mohanty — in DySP M K Ganapathy’s suicide case.

Yeddyurappa accused Siddaramaiah of shielding those who allegedly drove Ganapathy to suicide and not even bothering to take up development issues of the state with the Union government. “Siddaramaiah has made it a habit not to attend any meeting convened by the Prime Minister to discuss development works. While other CMs utilise the opportunity to push development works in their respective states, Siddaramaiah has not bothered to even attend NITI Aayog meetings,” Yeddyurappa said.

BJP MPs from Karnataka will raise the Ganapathy suicide issue in Parliament demanding a CBI probe into the case. The party will also chalk out a state-wide agitation plan in the next couple of days, he said.

Union minister for Planning and Statistics D V Sadananda Gowda too said that Siddaramaiah abstained from the NDC meeting to avoid uncomfortable questions from Modi over suicides of police officers in the state.