Take care of your legs from "stumbling blocks," Rajnath advises Siddaramaiah

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday advised Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is recovering from a knee injury, to keep his legs safe from the "stumbling blocks everywhere". In a speech laced with satire at the inaugural session of the Invest Karnataka-2025 summit, Singh said Siddaramaiah will cross all the hurdles.

"When I came to Bengaluru on Saturday I came to know about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's injury. It is good to see him here and it indicates he is fast recovering," he said.

"In politics keeping your legs safe is very important and you have to be very mindful because you will find stumbling blocks everywhere," the Defence minister quipped, sparking peels of laughter from the audience gathered at the venue.


Siddaramaiah too received the remark with a smile.

Singh was optimistic that Siddaramaiah would overcome all the hurdles.

"Siddaramaiah is a seasoned politician and he has been safely crossing all hurdles on his way and today he is the chief minister of Karnataka. I am very confident that he will recover quickly from this injury. I wish him a speedy recovery," Singh added.

The CM was hospitalised after he developed knee pain on Saturday. Sources close to him had said there was nothing serious about it.

The Invest Karnataka summit was the first event Siddaramaiah attended ever since he developed the knee pain.

On the political front, the veteran leader has been weathering the MUDA site allotment 'scam,' facing allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife Parvathi B M by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority.

In a relief , Karnataka High Court last week dismissed a petition filed by a RTI activist seeking a direction to transfer investigation into the case to the CBI.

Further, some Congress leaders have been openly staking claim for the CM's chair of late, amid speculations of a cabinet reshuffle. Particularly, supporters of Deputy CM DK Shivakumar have been demanding his elevation to the top post, in lines with an apparent agreement reached in 2023 about a "rotational CM formula," something the Congress has never confirmed or denied.