Prime Minister-Chief Minister meet should not be viewed politically: Karnataka BJP MLC Ravi

Bengaluru, Nov 17 Commenting on the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former national general secretary of the BJP and Legislative Council member C.T. Ravi stated that the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister hold constitutional positions.

Speaking to the media on Monday in Bengaluru, he stated, "Their meetings and discussions should not—and cannot—be viewed through a political lens. He further said the state government should have provided flood relief first and then sought assistance from the Centre."

On the talks of leadership change in the state, he said, "Whenever a major issue captures public attention, the topic of changing the Chief Minister is pushed to the forefront. This appears to be a political strategy.”

"What is it about the change of leadership to us? Whoever becomes Chief Minister makes no difference. The BJP does not believe in destabilising non-Congress governments the way Congress does. It is the Congress that has the notorious record of dismissing non-Congress governments more than 90 times. Of the 120-122 instances of President’s Rule imposed in the country, the Congress is responsible for dismissing non-Congress governments for political reasons in more than 90 cases," he said in response to a question.

He recalled that in 1958, former PM Jawahar Lal Nehru dismissed the first non-Congress government in Kerala led by Namboodiripad. That is when the practice of dismissing non-Congress governments for political reasons began. In Karnataka, too, the government of S.R. Bommai was dismissed. Such notoriety belongs to the Congress. Has Prime Minister Narendra Modi ever taken such actions? he questioned.

This is a bad government. They currently have the majority of MLAs. We have no interest in toppling them. If they fall on their own, that is their fate, he said.

Responding to another question, he said that when B.S. Yediyurappa was Chief Minister, the state would first disburse relief from its own treasury and then seek assistance from the Centre. Other Chief Ministers too followed the same practice. Under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) rules, the Centre will certainly give what must be given after conducting a survey.

Before that, releasing funds from the state treasury was a tradition followed by all Chief Ministers and governments. The present Chief Minister should have done the same, he remarked.

Speaking on the sugarcane issue, he asked who set fire to the hundreds of tractors loaded with sugarcane. Whose interests were behind this? During talks, farmer representatives were not taken into confidence; even sugar factory owners have said they do not accept the government’s unilateral decision. What value does such a one-sided decision hold? he questioned. He pointed out that because of the government’s thick-skinned approach, farmers are still protesting on the streets.

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