Siddaramaiah has already been given a message to quit State politics, says Joshi
'It is not clear why the Chief Minister has been appointed to the national-level team. I think it is a message asking him to quit State-level politics and go to Delhi. However, I do not think he will succeed in his new role. A leader who is unable to handle political affairs at the State-level will not be able to achieve anything significant at the national level,' Mr. Joshi told reporters.
'On the other hand, Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar has been going around saying that he will be the next Chief Minister. But then, he seems to have changed his mind recently. He is making philosophical statements of renouncing political power,' Mr. Joshi said.
Mr. Joshi criticised Mr. Siddaramaiah's statement about a connection between COVID-19 vaccine and heart attacks in young people, as unscientific.
'It is an irresponsible statement. It is an insult to the country. Over 150 nations are using COVID-19 vaccines. The whole world has praised the vaccine-makers of India. People in responsible positions should not make such statement,' Mr. Joshi said.
'The Chief Minister has taken the vaccine. Was it Indian or foreign? Is he criticising the vaccine just because it was promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Mr. Siddaramaiah should tender a public apology for his anti-vaccine statement,' Mr. Joshi said.
'The Congress leaders have made such irresponsible and insulting statement in the past too. They insulted the country during the war with Pakistan,' he said.
He said that Congress legislators, including Basavaraj Rayaraddi, are saying that there is no money for development as all the funds are spent on guarantees.
'Yesterday, Shiggaon MLA Nasir Khan Pathan also made a similar statement during a public programme. I was present there. It is unfortunate that the Congress government is not doing any development work,' Mr. Joshi said.
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