5/15/2016

StayoutofbusinesstillI'mKarnatakachiefminister,SiddaramaiahtellssonTimesofIndia

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Stay out of business till I'm Karnataka chief

minister, Siddaramaiah tells son
Bangalore Mirror Bureau | May 15, 2016, 03.19 PM IST

ENGALURU: Facing as he is a ery attack of nepotism charges,

chief minister Siddaramaiah has issued a diktat to his sons: "No
doing any business till I am in power".

The instruction from the father comes in the backdrop of the allegation
that a tender at the government-owned Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru was
given to Matrix Imaging Solutions Private Limited, a diagnostic
laboratories chain in which Siddaramaiah's second son Dr Yathindra is a
director. Siddaramaiah's political detractors had charged him of abusing
his ofce to award the tender, and have lodged a complaint to the effect
with the newly set up anti-corruption bureau.

The controversy resurfaced on Saturday during a press conference convened by Siddaramaiah to speak about his
achievements in the last three years as the state's CM. Reacting to a poser on why Dr Yathindra quit Matrix Imaging Solutions
if he had done no wrong, Siddaramaiah said: "I advised my son to quit. It was not because that he had violated rules but
because I did not want him to be doing business in any company till the time I am in power."
However, he defended awarding of the said tender to Matix Solutions by stating: "My son is a doctor. He is a professional. He is
a member of Matrix and they had participated in the tender called by the government and emerged as L1 (lowest bidder).
Where is the question of violation in this case?" Continuing with the defence, Siddaramaiah said: "He (Dr Yathindra) is an
independent man. He is 36 years old and pays income tax. He is doing business and in the normal course, his company landed
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5/15/2016

StayoutofbusinesstillI'mKarnatakachiefminister,SiddaramaiahtellssonTimesofIndia

the contract as the L1.There were no violations here."

Siddaramaiah maintained that the opposition BJP was making frivolous and baseless allegations against him as they cannot
tolerate his pro-people administration. Comparing his current stint with the BJP's ve-year rule, Siddaramaiah said: "We have
made honest attempts to give a transparent and corruption-free governance. Not a single minister in our cabinet has gone to
jail or obtained a bail so far."

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