State BJP Scheduled Castes Morcha president Chalavadi Narayanaswamy on Sunday hit out at the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and called him a “political broker”.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Narayanaswamy said that there is “adjustment politics” between Mr. Siddaramaiah and top political leaders from different parties.
Mr. Siddaramaiah projects himself as a pro-Dalit leader, but he is an anti-Dalit who makes all efforts to defeat Dalit leaders in the Congress and uses Dalits for his own benefit, he added.
Mr. Narayanaswamy said that Mr. Siddaramaiah, who fears parallel power centres emerging in his party, ensured the defeat of Congress leader G. Parameshwara in the 2013 Assembly elections. He is also responsible for the sidelining of Congress leaders M. Mallikarjun Kharge, K.H. Muniyappa and Dhruvanarayan, he said.
Coming down heavily on Mr. Siddaramaiah for comparing BJP leaders with hound dogs, Mr. Narayanaswamy said that Mr. Siddaramaiah, being in a responsible position, should speak like a statesman. Once a senior Congress leader and former Union Minister B. Janardhan Poojary said that Mr. Siddaramaiah was the bane of the Congress and he was absolutely right, he added.
Mr. Narayanaswamy said that another Congress leader, Priyank Kharge, who was born with golden spoon in his mouth, has no moral right to speak about Dalit issues. He just reads about Dalit issues in textbooks but has himself never faced any caste-based discrimination nor experienced poverty.
Mr. Priyank Kharge became a Cabinet Minister because of his father’s [Mallikarjun Kharge] political clout and not due to any hard work of his own. Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge let go an opportunity to become the chief minister just to get his son [Priyank Kharge] inducted into the Cabinet, Mr. Narayanaswamy said.
He also hit back at Mr. Priyank Kharge saying that the Congress has done great injustice to Dalits, while it also humiliated B.R. Ambedkar.
He [Dr. Ambedkar] quit the Cabinet due to the humiliation caused to him by the Congress and today, “you [Priyank Kharge] are with the same Congress” that not only defeated Dr. Ambedkar in the Lok Sabha elections but also refused to give land for Dr. Ambedkar’s last rites, he said.
Condemning those Congress leaders criticising the RSS, Mr. Narayanaswamy asked what moral right do Mr. Siddaramaiah or Mr. Priyank Kharge have to speak against the RSS uniform.
