'Unmarried, hence honest', Karnataka Chief Minister's bizarre logic

Was he implying that leaders who are married are prone to being corrupt?

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiahseems to think that marital status of a candidate decides how honest he or she is. The CM made this bizarre inference while campaigning for his party's candidate in Nanjangud assembly constituency on Friday.

In an attempt to convince the voters that Kalale Keshavamurthy is a 'clean hand' the chief minister asked him if he was married. When Keshavamurthy replied in the negative, Siddaramaiah said, "Since he is not married, he is honest and has a clean hand. He does not have any motivation to make money. Thus, there could be no better candidate than him."

While the chief minister was attempting to portray his candidate as a clean hand, his logic of deeming Keshvamurthy honest because he was unmarried did not go unnoticed. By attributing honestly to an 'unmarried person', is the Karnataka chief minister implying that leaders who are married are prone to being corrupt? This when Siddaramaiah himself is married, like many of the tall leaders in his party within as well as outside the state.

If 'unmarried' and 'not having a family' translates to 'not having the motivation or need to make money', Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi fits the former but Prime Minster Narendra Modi fits the latter as well. If Siddaramaiah's logic is anything to go by, Modi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Uma Bharati, Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, even Jayalalithaa, who was convicted by a court in a disproportionate assets case, are 'honest and have a clean hand'.

The Congress imported their candidate, Keshavamurthy, from the Janata Dal-Secular to counter Srinivas Prasad's clout in the constituency. While the BJP continues to play the Dalit and development card, Siddaramaiah attempted to play the non-corrupt and honest card.

Siddaramaiah made the statement while addressing rallies in Golur and Badanavalu of Nanjangud. Being careful not to evoke his former friend, Srinivas Prasad's name, Siddaramaiah said that the bypoll was an unnecessary hassle for the voters with assembly polls just a year away. Siddaramaiah blamed former minister Srinivas Prasad for resigning and leaving the seat vacant unnecessarily.

OneIndia News