Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G Parameshwar hit out at the Opposition saying that it has no moral rights to demand Minister George’s resignation.

Speaking at a press conference, Siddaramaiah said, “The opposition is asking for the resignation of KJ George, but that didn’t happen in the case of BJP minister Bhandaru Dattatreya who was named by Rohit Vemula in his suicide note for his death, even though an FIR was registered against him. Seven out of 19 union ministers inducted recently in the Central Cabinet face criminal charges”.

“The opposition is claiming credit for George’s resignation. They are speaking as if nothing like this happened in their tenure. In 2007 alone, 24 policemen committed suicide. HDK and Jagadish Shettar have forgotten about the number of police officers suicides during their tenure. The opposition is making baseless charges that officers are being harassed. Police always work under pressure as nature of work is such.  BJP and JDS have become politically bankrupt,” he added.

“I have already handed over eight cases to the CBI to investigate. During their tenure, I had asked for 13 cases to be handed over to the CBI regarding mining and de-notification, but they declined. When UPA was in power, the opposition called the CBI ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’. B S Yeddyurappa is facing as many as 30 cases. Neither BJP nor JD(S) have moral rights to ask for George’s resignation,” said Siddaramaiah.

“George submitted his resignation out of his own will and asked me to accept his resignation so that the government does not face embarrassment. We respect the court’s orders and the rule of law,” he concluded.

Home Minister, G Parameshwar said that the government is trying its best to bring out the truth in both Kallappa and Ganapathi suicide cases.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed the involvement of members of Bajrang Dal which an associate organisation of the BJP. The accused are still at large. Government will take action against all the culprits involved in both the cases,” he said.

He further said that the BJP was using the issue for their political gains.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Jagadish Shettar lashed out at CM Siddramaiah for blaming the opposition and said that no officer had committed suicide with a dying declaration during his tenure.