Do justice to state, go from puppy to tiger, Siddu tells Bommai

NT Corresspondent

Bengaluru: Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly Siddaramaiah on Thursday doubled down on his comment about Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai “shivering like a puppy” before Prime Minister Modi, saying that a “needless controversy” was being created over the same. He added that he merely meant to state that Bommai had challenged Congress to win back Karnataka in the upcoming Assembly polls if they had damm (strength), but was afraid of Modi.

“If Chief Minister Bommai stood up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and spoke of the injustice being inflicted on the state by the Centre and brought justice to the state, then I will take back my puppy comment and give him the title king of tigers,” he said. Siddaramaiah, who has been under fire for making a distasteful remark, sought to deflect attention to issues such as Karnataka providing revenue to the state and not getting enough in return.

“The state pays Rs 3.5 lakh crore through corporate taxes, diesel, and petrol cess, and GST (Goods and Services Tax). However, we only get Rs 50,000 crore in return. Do you have the nerve to raise your voice against this injustice?” the former chief minister asked.

Siddaramaiah had also got into an ugly war with Union Home Minister Amit Shah when he visited the state and implied that Congress was corrupt. Upon this, the LOP had called Shah “a political merchant who had kept the post of CM on sale for Rs 2,000 crore.” The vitriol on either side has been getting worse as the dates for the poll, most likely May, get nearer.