Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said the question of Cabinet expansion did not arise since no one has applied for the vacancy caused due to Meti’s resignation as the Minister for Excise.
Speaking after participating in a programme organised at National Military Memorial Park on the occasion of Vijay Diwas here, Siddaramaiah has said that no one had appealed to him to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Meti. Recalling the sacrifices made by the soldiers, he said that 3800 Indian soldiers had become martyrs and among them 58 were from Karnataka during Bangladesh war in 1971 and 91,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered to Indian Army during the war. “It is our duty to pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the war,’’ he said.
Commenting on the Income Tax Department officials’ raid on those who hoard black money, he said that some vested interests have been busy in converting black money into white money at various places in the country.
“I-T officials have seized black money from many places in the country. In Karnataka too, the I-T officials have conducted raids on residences and offices of some people. All Kannada people (6.50 crore people) are my close friends but some people are claiming close acquaintance with me as soon as I-T officials conducted raid on their property. Why can’t they claim as the friends of Yeddyurappa? Why those people are not mentioning the name of Yeddyurappa?’’ he asked.
