Sharan Prakash Patil defends Siddaramaiah’s Dalit livelihood statement

Defending Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah over his remarks on Dalit leaders who had left the Congress and joined the BJP, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson Sha

Defending Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah over his remarks on Dalit leaders who had left the Congress and joined the BJP, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson Sharan Prakash Patil has said that the BJP is making an attempt to show the former Chief Minister in bad light by distorting his statement and project him as anti-Dalit.

“It is true that Mr. Siddaramaiah referred to a few Dalit leaders by name and said that they had joined the BJP, an anti-Dalit party, for the sake of livelihood. The BJP leaders are, however, trying to project him as anti-Dalit by distorting his statement and conveniently applying it to the entire Dalit community,” Mr. Patil said at a press conference that he, along with another KPCC spokesperson Priyank Kharge, attended at the District Congress Committee office here on Wednesday.

Hailing Mr. Siddaramaiah as a man of integrity and commitment towards the poor and unprivileged masses, Mr. Patil said that it was the Siddaramaiah government that had introduced an Act making a provision for allocation of budgetary funds under Special Component Plan (SCP) for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) for Scheduled Tribes (STs) proportionate to the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.