Bengaluru, 19 Oct

BJP leader R Ashoka on Sunday accused Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar of presiding over a ‘Jungle Raj’ in the State, claiming governance has been replaced by arrogance and intimidation.

Ashoka’s remarks followed Shivakumar’s statement on Saturday asserting that contractors cannot threaten the government while promising to meet with them to discuss pending dues. The Karnataka State Contractors Association (KSCA), which met the Deputy CM, warned it would strike if pending payments worth Rs 33,000 crore are not substantially cleared within two months.

The KSCA had earlier alleged that commission demands for releasing payments across several departments have doubled under the Congress government compared with the previous BJP regime.

“Jungle Raj in Karnataka! So now, protesting for your rights is considered a threat?” Ashoka asked. “Deputy CM Shivakumar has the audacity to say contractors can’t threaten the government, when all they are demanding is the release of Rs 33,000 crore in dues. That is not a threat, it is a cry for justice,” he wrote on X.

He added, “In Rahul Gandhi’s pocket constitution, citizens have no right to protest, no right to demand dues, and no right to question corruption.” Ashoka concluded that the “so-called Karnataka Model has become a model of chaos, corruption, and collapse” under Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. PTI