Siddaramaiah

"Thousands have died in absence of adequate hospitals, beds, ventilators, and oxygen.It must be prevented from recurring but Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is running around for cabinet expansion instead of focusing on COVID-19," Siddaramaiah told reporters in Karwar, the headquarters town of Uttara Kannada district.

The phone numbers which were allegedly targeted include those of G Parameshwara, the then deputy chief minister of Karnataka, and personal secretaries of then Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy and former state CM Siddaramaiah.

"Election has to happen, new legislators will come, based on their opinion, high command will decide, why discuss now," Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah, the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly in a series of tweets also said that the dilemma of Karnataka BJP leaders is the lack of an alternative leader for Yediyurappa in their party.

Alleging that the BJP leaders have not just lied about the Covid-19 related deaths but also regarding medicines,masks, sanitizers, PE kits and other procurements, Siddaramaiah said Sudhakar has been 'consistently lying' tohide the corruption and inefficiency.

The statement has come days after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had rubbished similar claims by Siddaramaiah terming it "irresponsible" and had even said the latter will be removed as leader of opposition by the Congress, following the party's defeat in bypolls to two assembly segments in the state.

Around 20 party leaders had written to Sonia Gandhi demanding a full-time, visible president and overhauling of the organisational structure including elections to the CWC and reconstitution of the Parliamentary board.

Siddaramaiah has "completely recovered", and according to doctors the throat swab and blood test conducted for the second time, have come negative, a statement said.

Siddaramaiah has also been admitted to Manipal Hospital where CM BS Yediyurappa is undergoing treatment for the novel coronavirus infection.

Following the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Galwan valley in Ladakh, in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred, Siddaramaiah in a series of tweets said that the Prime Minister did not give any official statement about the developments unfolding on the border.

If @BJP4India feels Kashmir has returned to Normalcy, & If @BJP4India feels that there is no govt orchestrated violence. Now is the time to prove the same by hosting @realDonaldTrump's event at Kashmir, Siddaramaiah tweeted.

Yediyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time on July 26, three days after the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) government with the defeat of the motion of confidence moved by the then chief minister H D Kumaraswamy in the assembly by 99-105 votes.

"Yes... He is leaving for Delhi on Monday evening. There is a meeting scheduled with the party high command on Tuesday," said a Congress leader close to Siddaramaiah.

The Congress, which held 12 of the 15 seats where byelections were held on December five, won only two, in a huge set-back to the opposition party. In a letter to Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Siddaramaiah expressed his sincere regrets for not being able to give "satisfactory results" in the byelections.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader also accused the B S Yediyurappa-led BJP government in the state of doing nothing for the flood victims.

Based on a complaint by activist Mallikarjuna A, a city court recently directed the commercial street police to register a case under various sections of the IPC including criminal conspiracy and attempting or abetting waging war against the Government of India.

The Congress Legislature Party leader also said the B S Yediyurappa-led BJP government will have to resign on "failing" to garner required number of seats in the December 5 bypolls for 15 assembly constituencies in the state.

Who are all these people with me? Siddaramaiah said in response to a question about BJP leaders claims that he was abandoned by Congress leaders while campaigning.

Amid speculation that state congress president may be changed, the congress legislature party leader said there was no such proposal as per his knowledge. According to him, the party is ready for the bypolls and the candidate selection is in the final stage.

I won't forget in this life. We too don't want your company," Kumaraswamy tweeted.