NEW DELHI: The BJP on Saturday criticised the Congress after Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar was elected as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), questioning whether the change would alter what it described as the “character” of the government or amount only to a “change of face”.The remarks came after senior Congress leader and outgoing chief minister Siddaramaiah proposed Shivakumar’s name at a CLP meeting held at Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru, paving the way for him to take over as Karnataka’s next chief minister.In a video statement, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the development reflected the Congress party’s acceptance of governance failure under Siddaramaiah.“After two-and-a-half to three years of ‘Game of Thrones’, the ‘battle for the chair’ and ‘who will become the chief minister’, the Karnataka Congress has chosen a new CLP leader in the form of D K Shivakumar and replaced Siddaramaiah. It means they are acknowledging that Siddaramaiah’s governance has been a complete failure on all fronts — economy, law and order, and infrastructure,” Poonawalla said.“Therefore, they have had to replace him. Otherwise, 2028 (assembly elections) is gone,” he added.He further alleged that Shivakumar’s selection was influenced by financial strength rather than popularity.“It also shows that for the Congress high command, money is more important than popularity. All of them say that Siddaramaiah is more popular among Congress MLAs but it is Shivakumar’s money power that has prevailed,” he said.Poonawalla also questioned the Congress government’s focus, asking whether it would prioritise governance or political power.“Will this government actually focus on the janata (people) or only on satta (power)? Only time will tell. For the last three years, the people of Karnataka have suffered. We have seen bad roads, pothole-ridden roads, crumbling infrastructure, an economy going from bad to worse, and rising debt. People are paying the highest taxes but getting only corruption and poor governance in return,” he alleged.“Will that character change, or will it only be a change of face? Will there be a change of chief minister but no change in the government’s character? That is the main question,” he added.The BJP leader also accused the Congress of double standards on social justice, saying the party had removed the only OBC chief minister in Congress-ruled states.“Another question is that Mr Siddaramaiah, who was the only OBC chief minister in the Congress, has been removed unceremoniously by the party. Now, is Mr (Sukhvinder Singh) Sukhu an OBC? Is Mr Revanth Reddy an OBC? Is Mr ( V D) Satheesan an OBC?“Who is the OBC chief minister? There is no answer. This is the Congress party. Double standards on its own principles,” he said.Shivakumar is scheduled to take oath as Karnataka chief minister along with his cabinet team on the evening of June 3.
