Before pointing fingers at others, the former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah should explain to the people on what authority he is continuing to occupy the Cauvery government bungalow after relinquishing the post of the Chief Minister, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has said.

Speaking to presspersons here on Wednesday, Mr. Shettar said that Mr. Siddaramaiah is speaking like he is the only person with a clean image in politics and all the others are of a lower calibre morally.

Before pointing fingers at others, especially BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa, Mr. Siddaramaiah should check his track record on his own. First of all, he should explain to the people why he is illegally staying in the Cauvery bungalow that was his official residence during his tenure as Chief Minister, he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah should have vacated the bungalow after relinquishing the post of the Chief Minister or he should have continued to stay there paying rent specified by the Public Works Department. However, in blatant misuse of his position, Mr. Siddaramaiah continues to occupy that bungalow even though the government has allocated it to Industries Minister K.J. George, he said. He said that even Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy has turned a blind eye to this. Besides, as many as 71 cases are pending against Siddaramaiah for inquiry before the Lokayukta and he has obtained bail in six cases.

Replying to a query, Mr. Shettar said that the government did not furnish any reply to a question asked on the floor of the House over the illegal occupation of the government bungalow by Mr. Siddaramaiah. The BJP wants Mr. Siddaramaiah to vacate the bungalow on his own. Otherwise, the party would consult its legal cell on approaching court, he added.

Further, Mr. Shettar reiterated that the political equations in the State would change in favour of the BJP after the results of the parliamentary elections are announced on May 23. However, he refused to divulge more information on this and said that the BJP would capture power in the State without going for mid-term elections and without Operation Lotus.

Pralhad Joshi, MP, said that Mr. Siddaramaiah, during campaigning in Kundgol, ridiculously asked “Yelliddiyappa Pralhada-Pralhad, where are you?”.

“It is better Mr. Siddaramaiah knows that as an MP I am credited for visiting all the villages of my constituency. It was due to my constant contact with the people that I have been elected to Parliament for three tenures in a row. Mr. Siddaramaiah often ridiculing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa addressing them in singular term only shows his intellectual insolvency,” he said.

Mr. Joshi accused Water Resource Minister D. K. Shivakumar of trying to threaten BJP workers against canvassing for the party candidate, by misusing the police force.