BJP keeps up heat on Siddaramaiah on Hublot watch and ponzi scheme

Bengaluru, May 7

Keeping up the heat on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his alleged links with a company running a Ponzi scheme, the BJP on Monday sought to know his connection with its head Vijay Eswaran, who was under serious scrutiny of the UPA government.

Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad sought to know why Siddaramaiah feted a person who, despite being investigated by the UPA government, came to Karnataka and initiated ponzi schemes.

He sought to know from the chief minister who Vijay Eswaran was and how he had feted him in China.

“...a person against whom the Serious Fraud Investigation office had investigated under Manmohan Singh, not only feted by you in China, but at your instance comes to Karnataka to invest and initiates ponzi schemes,” he said.

Raising the issue yesterday, the BJP had accused Siddaramaiah of “aiding, abetting, protecting and promoting” the cheating of private investors in the alleged Ponzi scheme.

The BJP had also sought to know whether Siddaramaiah received the costly Hublot watch for “facilitating” the company, QI Group of Companies, headed by Vijay Eswaran, to operate in the state.

Embroiled in a controversy over the diamond-studded Hublot watch in March 2016, Siddaramaiah had handed it over to the Assembly speaker, asking him to make it a state asset.

Training his guns on Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Prasad sought to know his party’s stand on triple talaq.

He said Gandhi has been asking many questions and raising issues like women’s empowerment.

Hence, he said he wants Congress’ stand on triple talaq.

“What is your party’s stand on triple talaq? This question is important because the Bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha and is now in Rajya Sabha, where the Congress is ensuring that the law is not passed or debate doesn’t start,” said Prasad.

The union minister claimed that triple talaq has nothing to do with religion at all since it is concerned with gender justice, gender dignity and gender equality.

He added that triple talaq has been regulated in 21 countries and was a crime in many others, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Morocco.

India being a secular country, gender justice was a fundamental right, he said. — PTI