Udupi, July 21, 2024: On Saturday, July 20, Kota Srinivas Poojary, the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, announced that he would stage a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue between Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha in Bengaluru if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah did not retract his statement alleging Poojary’s involvement in a borewell scam.
Speaking to the press in Udupi, Mr. Poojary, who is a former Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council and a former Minister, demanded that the Chief Minister withdraw his statement within a week.
Denying any involvement in the scam during his tenure as Minister for Social Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare, Mr. Poojary pointed out that Mr. Siddaramaiah has been Chief Minister for a year. He questioned why, if there were any truth to the allegations, Mr. Siddaramaiah had not ordered a CID inquiry during that time. “Why didn’t you do it?” he asked. Mr. Poojary also stated that the Chief Minister is free to request a CBI investigation into the alleged scam.
The MP warned that if the Chief Minister did not withdraw his statement, he would press for a CBI investigation by staging a dharna in Bengaluru.
Additionally, Mr. Poojary mentioned that he would explore the possibility of filing a defamation case against Mr. Siddaramaiah over his statement.