NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar arrived at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on Wednesday.
Deputy CM Shivakumar said that they have come to attend a party meeting. “We have a preparatory meeting of the party… We have come to attend the meeting”, he said.
Siddaramaiah told reporters that the meeting is scheduled for Thursday to discuss the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “I’m going to Delhi. I, along with D K Shivakumar, have a meeting and most likely, we will discuss the Parliamentary elections,” the CM had said while speaking to reporters at his home office Krishna in Bengaluru.
He also criticised the BJP for “politicising” the arrest of a Kar Sevak (volunteer) in Hubballi and said that his government would not indulge in politics of hatred. “Don’t we need to punish those who have done wrong? Are they (BJP) protesting saying that they shouldn’t be punished?” Siddaramaiah asked.
The Kar Sevak, Srikanth Poojari, was arrested recently for his alleged involvement in violence after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. The arrest was made in a long-pending case, and the police said that it was a routine process to trace accused persons in such cases.
However, the BJP, over the arrest, protested across the state and accused the state government of arresting workers of Hindutva organizations at a time when the Ram temple in Ayodhya was being inaugurated. (ANI)