Siddaramaiah should remove DK Shivakumar from cabinet: Karnataka BJP leader

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 24 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy on Monday demanded that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should immediately sack his deputy DK Shivakumar over his reported remarks pertaining to the Constitution.
"If any person from the BJP side just speaks about the Constitution, immediately they will (react) and say that the BJP is anti-Constitution. When Anant Kumar Hegde (BJP leader) said something about the Constitution, immediately they (Congress) made it national news," Narayanaswamy, who is Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Council, told ANI.
"He (DK Shivakumar) should resign immediately. Otherwise, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who always talks about Constitutional ethics and Babasaheb Ambedkar, should immediately take action and sack him from the Cabinet," the BJP leader demanded.
Earlier today, ruckus erupted in Rajya Sabha over Shivakumar's remarks with BJP leaders alleging that he had talked of "changing the Constitution".
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju sought clarification from Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, regarding the Congress' position on reservation for Muslims following Karnataka government's decision to provide four per cent reservation to the community in public contracts.
He said Shivakumar's remarks were "extremely serious."
Kharge said that his party took up the Bharat Jodo Yatra across the country to protect the Constitution.
"Nobody can change the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar. Nobody can finish the reservation. To protect it, we did the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. They (points at NDA MPs) break India," Kharge said.
Rijiju also demanded resignation of Shivakumar. He said constitution framers were against religion-based reservations.
"If you have guts, take the resignation of Deputy CM today itself," Rijiju said.
Union Health Minister JP Nadda, who is the Leader of the House, also slammed Congress over Shivakumar's remarks.
"I am saying this with a lot of sadness, the way Congress claims to be a protector of the Constitution but the way they have tried to destroy it. Dr B R Ambedkar had himself said, that reservation would not be done on the basis of the Constitution. But in Karnataka, there is a talk of giving 4 per cent reservation in contracts," Nadda said.
The issue also figured in the Lok Sabha and both Houses faced adjournments.
Responding to the allegations against him, Shivakumar slammed BJP and said the party is trying to twist his remarks and he is consulting his legal team.
"I don't want to comment much on it. There is no hide and seek in this issue. On quota, there are several judgments which have come, and after every judgment, amendments have been made to the Constitution; there is nothing else. So they (BJP) are trying to twist it. They don't have any issues. I am happy that Jairam Ramesh has moved privilege motion. I am also consulting legal experts," the Karnataka Dy CM told ANI.
Earlier, speaking to reporters at his residence, Shivakaumar said he "never stated we would change the Constitution".
"The BJP is carrying out propaganda. I will fight it legally," he said.
Asked about the BJP's criticism of his remarks to a private TV channel on changing the Constitution, Shivakumar said the BJP is twisting his statement.
"I have been in public life for 36 years and have basic common sense. But the BJP is misleading people. My name is being dragged into BJP's disinformation campaign," he said.
"All I said was that there is a precedent for changing the Constitution based on the Court's orders. I have never said we will change the Constitution. The Congress is a national party that brought the Constitution in the first place. We understand its importance better than others. The Centre has failed the people in the recent Budget and is now trying to rake up other issues. This is part of the BJP's continued political conspiracy," he added.
Asked about Amit Malviya's post on X, Shivakumar said he is misleading. "The BJP has always tried to take the country down the wrong path. Let them show proof of me saying the Constitution needs to be changed. This is cheap politics from the BJP. They don't get sleep if they don't take the names of Sonia Gandhi, her family, and the Congress party. The BJP is an expert in falsifying information and carrying out propaganda campaigns."
"I will take legal action against those twisting my statements. It would be difficult if these statements were made within the House, but I will surely pursue legal action if they were made outside Parliament," he added.
Asked if the media had misrepresented his statement, he said, "there is nothing wrong with the media's reporting. The BJP has twisted my statements and is unnecessarily dragging my name into this." (ANI)