MP Pratap Simmha on Tuesday mocked former MLA Yathindra Siddaramaiah over his recent statement on whether the Mysuru MP was a “national leader”.
“Mr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah is correct. I am definitely not a national leader. I come from a modest background and started a career in journalism before coming to politics. I agree with him (Mr. Yathindra) that I am not a national leader,” the MP told reporters here.
Replying to Mr. Yathindra’s sarcastic jibe at him, Mr. Simmha hit out saying, “A national leader is the one who uses his father’s clout as the CM; a national leader is the one who forces his father to migrate to a different constituency (Badami) vacating his home constituency (Varuna) to make way for his son to contest the polls (from Varuna in 2018); a national leader is the one who commands his father to sign the transfer list sent by him. Considering all these reasons, I can say Mr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah is the real national leader in the Mysuru region.”
Referring to the Congress leaders’ statements that Anna Bhagya rice was used to distribute ‘Mantrakshate’ by the BJP and RSS leaders ahead of the inauguration of Ayodhya temple, the MP asked, “Can the hands that cannot accept Mantrakshate give rice to make Mantrakshate?”
Moreover, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah doesn’t believe in “Akshate” and “Gotra” and how could the government give the Anna Bhagya rice for this purpose, he argued.
The MP said the 5 kg rice that is being distributed under the Anna Bhagya is actually from the Anna Kalyana Yojana launched by Prime Minister Narenda Modi. People will not believe the Congress leaders’ claims on rice for Mantrakshate, he maintained.
Replying to the remarks from the Opposition that crores of rupees were being spent on the Ayodhya temple, he said the temple is being constructed with the people’s contributions.
To the question that Mr. Siddaramaiah is not attending the temple inauguration, the MP said invitations have been extended to some Congress leaders as a protocol. “It is up to them to attend. Mahatma Gandhi had the dream of building Rama Rajya. I don’t know whether the Congress leaders believe in Rama Rajya or Ravana Rajya.”
