'Invisible hands behind my ouster': Former K'taka Minister Rajanna

Bengaluru, Aug 15 (IANS) Former Karnataka minister K.N. Rajanna said on Friday that “invisible hands” are behind his ouster from the state Cabinet led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

“I am confident that the high command will be convinced about my case. I believe there are people in Delhi who are systematically working against me. If someone wants to finish me off, I also know the tricks of the trade,” he said.

Rajanna claimed that he has decided to use this time to help people and take up good work.

When asked about the “invisible hands,” Rajanna said, “If not for their role, what else could be the reason? Even Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself had no idea. On that day, when CM Siddaramaiah came to Vidhana Soudha, he didn’t get out of his car and instead spoke over the phone to Delhi. It was about my resignation.”

“He spoke to Delhi for 20 minutes in the car, trying to resolve the issue. He also tried to convince the high command, but they told him they had already made their decision. CM Siddaramaiah conveyed to me that there was no other option and that this was the situation. I told him it was not a problem,” Rajanna said.

Lauding the state government led by the Congress party, he claimed that a pro-people government is in place, which is doing good work.

He also claimed that the guarantees have reached the people, adding that even though development works are not progressing as quickly as the government would like, no project has been stopped.

“Wherever CM Siddaramaiah goes, he is inaugurating development works worth Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore. In my constituency, the lake-filling project with a budget of Rs 300 crore is underway. Road construction has also begun in the town and in rural areas,” Rajanna said.

He said that after Union Minister for Jal Shakti and Railways V. Somanna became the Lok Sabha member from the Tumakuru Parliamentary seat, which includes his constituency, he secured Rs 30 crore from the Centre for various development works.

K.N. Rajanna was asked to tender his resignation as Minister for Cooperation on August 11 for his remark against the LoP Rahul Gandhi's press conference in Delhi and protest in Bengaluru on the voter fraud.

“If there was voter fraud, Congress should have pointed it out much earlier,” he had said.

Meanwhile, sources said that the resignation of Rajanna has strengthened Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar’s position within the Congress party over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Rajanna, a close associate of Siddaramaiah, had openly supported the Chief Minister while targeting Shivakumar.

--IANS

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