Karnataka Congress brings charge sheet 'NAmage MOsa' against BJP, slams saffron party for giving Rajya Sabha seat to Rajeev Chandrasekhar

BENGALURU: In a counter-attack against the BJP ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, the ruling Congress in Karnataka today brought out a 'charge sheet' against the saffron party under the title 'NAmage MOsa' (We have been cheated).

In the charge sheet, the Congress accused its principal rival of 'betrayal' on 10 counts, the foremost being giving a Rajya Sabha ticket to businessman Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who it said was an 'outsider', hailing from Kerala.

"The BJP has repeatedly nominated non-Kannadigas as Rajya Sabha representatives from Karnataka, the latest being Chandrasekhar. Can they really represent Karnataka's best interests in Parliament? Aren't there people from Karnataka for BJP to choose from?" the party asked.

Chandrasekhar, an independent Rajya Sabha member, joined the BJP yesterday, a day after the party nominated him to the Upper House of Parliament.

The charge sheet also wanted to know why the Centre was not convening a meeting of chief ministers of the three riparian states, including Maharashtra, to resolve the Mahadayi water sharing row between Karnataka and Goa.

It also questioned the Centre's "silence" on the Cauvery water row with Tamil Nadu.

The Congress asked why the Indian Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) exams were not conducted in Kannada.

The charge sheet comes amid the BJP's sustained attack on the Siddaramaiah government over various issues, including corruption, ahead of the Assembly elections expected to be held in the next few months.

Addressing a farmers' rally at Davangere last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had dubbed the Siddaramaiah government a "seedha rupaiya (money first) sarkar", a reference to corruption, and said it should not be allowed to continue "even for a minute".

Taking exception to this, the state Congress has redefined NaMo (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) as 'NAmage MOsa' which means "we have been cheated" in Kannada and the charge sheet had been unveiled under this.

The other points raised by the Congress in the charge sheet are allocation of lesser relief for last year's drought, shifting of the CPRF Centre from Taralu in the state to Uttar Pradesh and an alleged imposition of Hindi.

The Congress also sought to know why the BJP did not like the proposed Karnataka flag unveiled by the state government.

It questioned the BJP-led central government why it gave the offset contract related to Rafale fighter jets to Anil Ambani's firm instead of the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautical Limited.

Raising these questions, the Congress tweeted, "BJP has  consistently acted against Karnataka's interests.

This is a Chargesheet with the 10 most prominent betrayals by the BJP."    

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah retweeted it and wrote, "Will the @BJP4Karnataka leaders muster the courage to answer real issues that affect the Kannadigas? Will they respect our right to Language, Culture & Water? Not likely. They are busy spreading rumours to polarise to win an election."

Taking a jibe at Siddaramaiah, the Karnataka BJP tweeted, "Sir, we gave a rebuttal to all the charges in real time. You were probably sleeping. Looks like you woke up now. Drink a strong cup of coffee. It might stir you out of sleep and help you muster the courage to visit our timeline and read our replies."