Siddaramaiah has realized Cong won’t retain power: Shettar

Hubballi: The tone of chief minister Siddarmaiah’s speech has changed now as he is afraid of the BJP’s growing support, said leader of opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar.
Addressing the gathering at Navashakti Samavesha, a Hubballi-Dharwad Central assembly constituency booth-level BJP workers’ meet at Gokul Garden here on Sunday, Shettar said: “A few days back, Siddaramaiah used to say that he would become the CM again. Now, he is saying that if he becomes the CM or not, he would not let BJP come to power again,” Shettar said, terming the CM’s statement “nothing, but frustration”.

The former CM said that Siddaramaiah has realized now that the Congress will not retain power. Shettar accused the Congress government of spending crores of money on advertisements. “The water resources department is giving ads in which it is claiming that several irrigation projects and drinking water projects are taken up. A senior official in the department told me that the department has spent Rs 150 crore on ads in the last few days. The problems of the people would have been solved had the money been used to help the people,” he said.

Shettar also alleged that the water board has submitted a proposal of Rs 24 crore for providing 24x7 water supply to the twin cities. “The government has not approved the proposal, let alone releasing the funds. Instead of spending Rs 150 crore on ads, the government should have allotted Rs 24 crore for providing water supply to the city. District minister Vinay Kulkarni is also not bothered about the drinking water problem,” he said.

Reporters asked to leave meeting venue

Immediately after Jagadish Shettar addressed the gathering of BJP workers, reporters of various newspapers and news channels were politely told to leave the venue. The media coordinator politely asked them to leave as a ‘secret’ meeting was about to start. Shettar and MP Pralhad Joshi were on the dais when the reporters were asked to leave.