The Congress party in Mysuru has hit out at Mysuru MP Pratap Simmha for levelling “baseless” allegations against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after the arrest of his brother Vikram Simha in a tree felling case in Belur taluk.
Reacting to Mr. Simmha’s charge that the arrest of his brother in the illegal tree felling case was part of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s efforts to facilitate his son Yathindra’s election from Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency in the coming elections, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana said the Mysuru MP was making allegations against Mr. Siddaramaiah without any basis to generate public “sympathy” in his favour.
He said there were no plans in the Congress party to field Mr. Yathindra from Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency. During a recent meeting of the party to identify probable candidates, Mr. Yathindra’s name was not among the 14 persons who had submitted applications for the party ticket.
Both Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Yathindra had clearly said that they were not interested in the latter’s contest from Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency, Mr. Lakshmana sought to clarify. He accused Mr. Simmha of making such statements against the Chief Minister out of “frustration” and “insecurity” about the Lok Sabha elections and the uncertainty prevailing over the BJP renominating him to contest the elections.
Also, Mr. Siddaramaiah had not interfered in the matter relating to the illegal tree felling case in Belur even though it was well within his powers to do so as the State’s Chief Minister.
He said Mr. Simha was also trying to divert public attention away from his involvement in the issue of passing to persons accused of breaching security in the Parliament on December 13 by unnecessarily dragging the name of the Chief Minister.
Mr. Lakshmana also alleged Mr. Simmha’s brother Vikram Simha, who had entered into an agreement with the owners of 3 acres 14 guntas of land in Belur taluk to cultivate ginger, was a “habitual offender” with cases booked against him earlier by the police for gambling and assault.
He also raised questions on the motives of the MP’s brother for entering into an agreement with the land owners for a short duration of barely one and a half month from December 11, 2023 to January 25, 2024, to cultivate ginger. “Is it possible to grow ginger in such a short period of time?,” he questioned.
He accused Mr. Simmha’s brother of cutting high-value trees from not only the land taken on contract to cultivate ginger but also surrounding forest land for export to foreign countries.
