Bengaluru: After Congress Waynad MP Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha over a certain comment he made on a certain caste, and convicted on the case of defamation there could be many such incidents in the country in the days to follow. The new entrant into this entrapment is Formed Chief Minister and Opposition Leader of Karnataka Legislative Assembly Siddaramiah.
A Defamation Case has been lodged against Siddaramaiah for an alleged statement made against on caste Lingayats laced with defamatory elements. Unwittingly, Siddaramiah had made a statement that the Lingayat Chief Minister (Basavaraja Bommai) was a corrupt Chief Minister, allegedly hurting the sentiments of Lingayats.
In a private case filed at the Magistrate’s Court in Bengaluru City Court activist Shankar Sait has stated that Siddaramiah had made this statement in a TV footage which was defamatory for the Lingayat community. The court had adjourned the matter to April 29, after accepting the petition. It is a matter of concern for the Congress party that the court had admitted the plaint and will take it up for hearing on 29 April just ten days prior to the end of campaigning for the polling on 10 May.
In order to contain the damage brought on by the resignations of Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, the BJP has also made it a significant election issue in the state.
According to the Lingayat Yuva Vedike Legal Cell, who filed a complaint with the Election Commission, Siddaramaiah had insulted and defamed the Lingayat community.
Siddaramaiah was quick to resolve the issue and gave a statement that he meant to say Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is the present CM, has indulged in corruption and destroyed the state, and he did not mean to hurt the sentiments of the Lingayats.
The issue might not end here for the Congress leaders as there could be one more similar issue burning. On April 24 Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President D. K. Shivakumar had made one more statement that has caught the imagination of the Mogaveera community. Shivakumar had referred to the Mogaveera community leader Pramod Madhwaraj and said “he can now go and catch fish”. This statement has the Mogaveera leader to retort with the sternest words and the BJP Legal Cell in Udupi thinks it is a fit case for defamation “We are examining it” stated a source in the party.