Cong, JDS claim PM denied appointment to CM, hit out at him

PTI, Sep 20, 2019, 9:58 AM IST

Bengaluru: Opposition Congress and JD(S) on Thursday alleged Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa was denied appointment by the Prime Minister at a time when several parts of the state was ravaged by recent floods.

The parties made the claim a day after Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said Yediyurappa was scheduled to visit Delhi on Wednesday but had postponed it to Friday.

In response to a question regarding flood relief from the Centre, Madhuswamy had on Wednesday said: “We are hopeful that the Centre will release the funds soon, the Chief Minister had to visit Delhi today, but it has got postponed, he is now scheduled to go to Delhi on Friday…”

However, officials in the Chief Minister’s office on Thursday said the visit was not yet confirmed.

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah claimed Yediyurappa was denied appointment and termed it as an “insult” to the Chief Minister and “injustice” to the state.

“Denying the appointment to @CMofKarnataka by @PMOIndia @narendramodi, even during post-flood emergency, is an insult to @BSYBJP & injustice to our state. No one with self-respect will tolerate this. #InjusticeToKarnataka #InsultToCM” Siddaramaiah tweeted Thursday.

JD(S) too attacked the Prime Minister by calling him “irresponsible” and accused him of “neglecting” the flood-hit state.

“The country has never seen an irresponsible Prime Minister like Narendra Modi, as he was showing negligence by not extending any help, when the state is devastated because of floods.

“The state has never seen a weak Chief Minister like Yediyurappa who is struggling to meet the Prime Minister despite belonging to the same party,” JD(S) tweeted.

As many as 103 taluks in 22 districts were affected due to floods last month, in which over 80 people were killed.

Around seven lakh people were shifted to safe areas and thousands of houses were damaged.