Lies are HDK’s family deity: Siddu on Yathindra row

Mysuru, NT Bureau: A visibly annoyed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah reiterated that his son and Shelter Committee chairman Yathindra was not guilty of the allegations made against him by the Opposition, going so far as to say that lies were JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy’s family deity.

He made the comments to mediapersons at the Mysuru airport on Friday. Later on, he travelled from Mysuru to Nanjangud taluk where he inaugurated the restored Kademalamma temple in Kalale village.

“Kumaraswamy’s statements are born out of envy and hate. So he makes false allegations. He knows nothing except lies. Lies are his family deity,” Siddarmaiah said.

The CM continued to insist for the second day that there was nothing out of the ordinary about the video of Yathindra’s telephonic conversation that went viral.

“Kumaraswamy only ever does politics of hate and jealousy. Yesterday, he made false allegations against my son (Yathindra) for speaking over the phone. Isn’t he an ex-MLA? Isn’t he the Shelter Committee chairman? Isn’t he a KDP (Karnataka Development Programme) member? Doesn’t he have the freedom to participate in development activities? I told him to look after my constituency Varuna. He had given it up for me. He was an MLA for five years. I’ve asked him to look after the segment,” he said.

Kumaraswamy on the other hand continued his barrage against Yathindra and Siddarmaiah, claiming that the explanation that they had offered of the phone call was about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds being directed to government schools was hard to believe.

He added that the CSR “excuse” was something the “duplicate CM” (his nickname for Deputy CM DK Shivakumar) came up with.

“There will be a downpour of criticisms against me for speaking the truth. However, I will soberly accept whatever certificate Congress puppets give me,” he said.