Siddaramaiah’s repeated governance failures keep giving reminders to Karnataka citizens that all is not well in the state. Every time people give him the benefit of doubt, Siddaramaiah reinforces the belief that he and his government are completely incompetent in handling routine matters of governance. Especially in the recent past, he has reinforced the belief that Karnataka has become a state that has descended into the worse form of lawlessness and the state just couldn’t care less.
The recent incident of Congress MLA’s son Mohammed Harris Nalapad assaulting a commoner is a case in point. The issue was flashed in the media promptly and has created quite an uproar on social media.
Karnataka Home Minister on Sunday morning had given a deadline to Bengaluru police to arrest the guy by evening. Unsurprisingly, the police failed to do that. This is not because he went into a hiding in a jungle. Far from it. He was in a 5-star hotel in the heart of Bengaluru. And it is certainly not like no one knew about his whereabouts. Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka Rajeev Chandrashekhar, in fact, tweeted about this. Moreover, he explicitly suggested the way to nab him:
Dear @CPBlr – i hv been informd that absconding Leader/goon #Nalapad is hiding in a hotel close to UB City. I suggst if Police is serious abt locatng him that they visit and chk all the hotl guest details n their CCTV footage immdtly @siddaramaiah @OfficeOfRG
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@rajeev_mp) February 18, 2018
That the police failed to arrest him is a minor lapse in the scheme of things. On Monday morning, the crook arrived at the police station like a royal and the police were waiting for him. Images of him coming with friends or bodyguards aired across all Kannada news channels. It seems like the entire event was perfectly staged.
By the time the crook came to the police station, there was a huge crowd gathered. This crowd comprised of people from all parties viz. Congress, BJP and JDS. One fails to understand why the Police didn’t find out the reason for the crowd to gather right in front of the station. Are they so incompetent? Or were they instructed to wait for the crook to surrender?
One must remember that “he surrendered” looks more politically positive headline in this election season than “he was pulled by his hair by the police”.
Now on to the mystery about why he was not arrested immediately. Rumours are afloat that the crook was given time to erase all evidence. Now, presumably, police will not be able to find the CCTV footage of hotel or hospital, where this crook assaulted the victim twice. There will soon be no incriminating evidence. Personnel in hotel and hospital would be bought – after all, he is a rich, spoilt, notorious son of an MLA. They will also more likely prove that Vidwath (the victim) as a BJP mole. They will step it further by making this a secular/communal issue. After all, what better way to reduce any issue than bringing this as an anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Congress on its part has remained completely silent. The Home Minister of the state is nowhere to be found to explain the failure to arrest the crook promptly. Siddaramaiah is busy taking credit for the new projects to be launched by the Central government. The crook’s father – the MLA – is going completely scotfree. Why was he not expelled from the party? Why is no one asking for an apology? Why is the media not hounding him?
On a related issue, on Sunday there were many tweets shared about Prakash Raj praising this crook only in January this year. He said for this crook: “This is how a boy should be raised. He is a model youth”. This was all when the guy had posted Instagram pics with guns. Now, one of the biggest grudges Prakash Raj has against Modi is that when Gouri Lankesh was killed, apparently some ppl who were followed by Modi were celebrating her death. So, the newbie politician wanted Modi to condemn and apologize for that. Now, if he expects Modi to apologize for people who he follows on Twitter, doesn’t it mean that Raj should apologize for saying that this guy is a model youth? To show he is indeed serious about reforming the society, shouldn’t he quit making political statements. Of course, BJP should hope he doesn’t quit politics. The thing about loudmouth actors is that sooner than later, they will talk nonsense and get caught out. By the looks of it, Prakash Raj has just begun.
