Baraguru Ramachandrappa to chair 82nd Kannada Sahitya Sammelan

Bengaluru, Aug 7: The condition of former Chief Minister and leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, is clinically stable and he is responding to COVID-19 treatment, the hospital authorities said on Friday.

"Leader of the opposition and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is clinically stable and responding to COVID-19 treatment. He is comfortable and his appetite has improved. Our team of experts will continue to monitor him closely," Manipal Hospital said in a health bulletin.

Siddaramaiah had informed on Twitter on August 4 that he tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted himself to a hospital.

Since then, he had been active on twitter and attacked the BS Yediyurappa government in Karnataka over their handling of COVID-19 and heavy rainfall situation.

Earlier on Friday morning, Siddaramaiah remembered Nobel laureate and poet Rabindranath Tagore on his death anniversary.

The former Chief Minister of Karnataka also condoled the demise of Karnataka State Wakf Board chairman Dr Mohammed Yusuf on Friday.

Bengaluru, Jul 27: Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said that when COVID-19 has made life and livelihoods difficult, it is unfortunate that charges have been levelled of irregularities in the procurement of COVID-19 equipment.

"The Congress which has levelled charges against the ruling BJP has not so far filed a complaint with any investigating agency. Instead, the Congress has limited itself to getting publicity. On the other hand, the ruling BJP instead of coming clean by ordering a probe into the main charges is indirectly admitting the scam," Kumaraswamy said on Sunday.

"By washing dirty linen in public, both the Congress and the BJP are playing a cruel joke on people instead of protecting their lives," he said.

Hitting out at the BJP, he asked, "Why is it that the BJP is not ordering an investigation into the Rs 2,000 crore Covid 19 corruption charges levelled against the government by the Congress? Why is the government keeping quiet on the corruption charges?"

He said, "Is this the leadership provided by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa? There could be political pressure on seeking resignation of his Ministers. But why has no action been initiated against any officers? Is there any effort to destroy the evidence by retaining officers in their existing postings?"

"Hunger for publicity is evident when we look at the press conference by five Ministers at a time," he said.

The government has countered the charges of the Congress but backtracked on ordering an investigation, he said.

"Would this not give rise to suspicion that the government is involved in the scam?" he asked.

He also asked why Congress leaders have not filed a complaint before any investigating agency despite "possessing documents to prove the charges".

"Are the Congress leaders trying to get publicity or are they concerned about the welfare of the people? The Congress Legislative Party leader is seeking an account (Lekka Kodi) while the BJP president is seeking answers (Uttara Kodi). Is it enough to give such questions and answers?"

Is there a concrete legal plan to deal with the irregularities? he asked.

"Looking at the way the Congress leaders have addressed media conferences and taken to social media campaigns, it appears that they are trying to get publicity," he said.