Bengaluru: Commenting on the celebration by the Chief Minister and his supporters for Siddaramaiah equalling the record as the longest-serving CM of Karnataka after late D. Devaraj Urs, the BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, Lahar Singh Siroya stated that he wished they were more modest.
Taking to social media X, Lahar Singh stated the factcheck on Siddaramaiah’s record as the longest serving Chief Minister has brought out a revelation in this regard.
“The newspapers today have claimed that Shri Siddaramaiah has become the longest serving chief minister of Karnataka surpassing Shri. D. Devaraj Urs’s record. I congratulate him, but would also like to present him with a small fact check.
“Shri. Urs was chief minister for continuous terms from March 1972 to January 1980. His term was not broken like that of Shri. Siddaramaiah, who lost power in 2018 when Congress was defeated in the polls, and he himself had lost his Chamundeshwari seat in Mysore. It was a saving grace that he had won by a thousand-odd votes in Badami, the other seat he had contested,” Siroya stated.
“Even when it comes to Shri. Urs, he had long years in office because the 1976 elections were postponed by former PM late Indira Gandhi who had imposed the Emergency and jailed all Opposition leaders. For a couple of months at the beginning of 1978 there was President’s rule in Karnataka. But still, as chief minister, Shri. Urs had continuous terms,” he pointed out.
“Will Shri. Siddaramaiah on the happy occasion of breaking Shri. Urs’ record condemn the Emergency imposed by Smt. Indira Gandhi? Will he also condemn Smt. Indira Gandhi for her anti-democratic actions? Will he also condemn Smt. Indira Gandhi for dislodging Shri. Devaraj Urs, the social justice champion who had actually given her a rebirth in politics,” Siroya underlined.
“It may be noted that India’s longest-serving chief ministers, including Pawan Kumar Chamling, Naveen Patnaik of Odisha, Jyoti Basu, Mohan Lal Sukhadia, Manik Sarkar, Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi, have all served uninterrupted terms, each lasting more than a decade,” he pointed out.
“I only wish Shri. Siddaramaiah and his followers were more modest about his non-achievement. His record does not sadly qualify for even the Limca Book of Records or the Guinness World Records,” he ridiculed.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday launched a scathing attack on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, saying his claim of breaking the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka, record does not deserve celebration but should instead be “buried”.
Reacting to Siddaramaiah’s statement that he would break the record of former Chief Minister D. Devaraj Urs, Kumaraswamy said, “What merit does he have for all this? Looking at the condition of the state, his record deserves to be buried rather than celebrated.”
(IANS)
