Hubballi, March 4 Raising the issue of alleged phone tapping by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to track Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi questioned why secret information was being collected and demanded that the government disclose the reasons behind the alleged surveillance.
Describing the phone tapping allegations as serious, Joshi demanded a high-level probe into the matter.
Joshi pointed out that when Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was Chief Minister earlier, similar allegations of phone tapping had surfaced, and asked why those who were then part of the coalition government remained silent even after coming to power later.
Congress had formed a coalition government with JD (S) then, and Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister.
He also criticised the Congress government for not investigating the earlier allegations and questioned the role of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at that time.
Reacting to Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar's remark that he and CM Siddaramaiah shared a cordial relationship “like milk and honey,” Joshi termed the statement laughable.
He sarcastically remarked that their relationship seemed more like alcohol and lemon than milk and honey.
On the issue of raising the height of the Almatti dam, the Union Minister said that if Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar visited Delhi for discussions, efforts would be made to resolve the matter.
He assured that necessary assistance would be extended in the interest of Karnataka. However, he alleged that when the Congress was previously in power, it had promised to allocate Rs 10,000 crore annually for the development of the Almatti reservoir but failed to fulfill the assurance.
Joshi also took a swipe at the Congress over its claim that it did not promote dynastic politics.
He pointed out that three Members of Parliament from the Gandhi family were currently in Parliament and questioned whether that did not reflect dynastic politics within the party.
--IANS
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