Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday sought to know whether it was correct on the part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to “ignore” the allegations regarding the alleged bitcoin scam in the State.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, in a series of tweets, sought an impartial probe into the case, and asked, “Instead of asking the Chief Minister to investigate and prove his innocence, how is it correct for the Prime Minister to tell him to ignore the allegations? Can the Prime Minister unilaterally decide?” the Congress leader asked.
Noting that the Central and State investigating agencies were probing the bitcoin scam, he said, “Mr. Bommai is the present Chief Minister and was also Home Minister under the previous government led by B.S. Yediyurappa. By asking the Chief Minister to ignore it at this stage of investigation, is the Prime Minister asking him to drop the investigation?”
“We don’t know if Mr. Bommai is involved in the bitcoin scam or not. All we are asking is to investigate it properly and punish the guilty. Why is Mr. Modi asking the CM to ignore?” he sought to know.
Mr. Bommai, after meeting with Mr. Modi in Delhi on Thursday, had said the Prime Minister had advised him not to bother about the issue, and instead work for the people with dedication and honesty.
“BJP Karnataka leaders are trying to prevent us from speaking by claiming the involvement of Congress leaders. They have the Government both at the Centre and State. Let them investigate impartially and reveal the names of those involved,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
