Belagavi row: Cong demands Bommai resignation

Maqsood Maniyar | NT

Bengaluru: The grand old party reacted strongly to Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde allegedly laying claim to parts of Belagavi district with Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) DK Shivakumar demanding that CM Basavaraj Bommai resign, even as the former called for Shinde’s government to be dismissed.

The Congress claimed that Bommai had failed to uphold Karnataka’s interests as Shinde tried to implement the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jana Arogya Yojane which seeks to provide 865 villages in Belagavi district health insurance under a Maharashtra state government scheme. This isn’t the first time Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have called for Bommai to step down over the issue.

“The Centre should immediately sack Maharashtra’s Eknath Shinde government, which is threatening the federal system. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should resign for failing to uphold the interests of the state,” Siddaramaiah said in statement to mediapersons.

Echoing his party colleague’s sentiments, Shivakumar also called for Bommai’s resignation, adding that Kannadigas had been insulted by the Shinde government because they had been offered alms by way of health insurance. “The BJP government is willingly sacrificing the interests of the people of Karnataka for political reasons,” he said.