The Hindu : Karnataka News : BJP has no candidates: Shivakumar

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Karnataka

Karnataka

BJP has no candidates: Shivakumar

Staff Correspondent

BJP accused of following unethical means to engineer defections
KPCC president confident of Congress winning 20 LS seats in the State

Areshiroor (Udupi district): D.K. Shivakumar, working president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), said on Thursday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in a state of disarray in the State.

Mr. Shivakumar told presspersons here that the BJP did not even have candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Hence it was busy engineering defections from the Congress. It was the Congress which had developed several leaders for the past 10-15 years, he said.

The BJP had resorted to unethical methods to engineer defections. But, the Congress was not bothered about such defections. Many Congress leaders, who had joined the BJP, had got disillusioned and returned to the parent party. These leaders included Manjunath Konnur and Manorama Madhwaraj. “The Congress knows how to develop leaders,” he said.

On the denial of ticket to MP M. Shivanna from Chamarajanagar, Mr. Shivakumar said the local MLAs had decided on the matter. On rumours of Congress leader and former MP Vinaykumar Sorake joining the BJP, he said he did not know about it. However, he said it was unlikely that Mr. Sorake would join the BJP. As regards former Minister D.B. Chandre Gowda joining the BJP, he said, “I wish him success in the BJP.”

On some inflammatory statements reportedly made by former Minister Kagodu Thimappa, Mr. Shivakumar said he did not know about them and would comment after studying them. “First let the controversy surrounding BJP’s candidate for Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha seat Ananthkumar Hegde get resolved,” he said.

On former Chief Minister and Congress candidate S. Bangarappa’s chances in Shimoga parliamentary seat, Mr. Shivakumar said that Mr. Bangarappa was fighting the Lok Sabha elections for the last time. “He will win and become a Union Minister.

The Congress would get over 20 seats in the State in the Lok Sabha elections. It would bank on the performance of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre. The country had witnessed tremendous growth under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “His clean image is an asset for the Congress. There have been no major scandals during the UPA rule,” Mr. Shivakumar said. Congress leader S. Ravi and Nagamangala MLA Suresh Gowda were present.

‘BJP is pro-rich’

Inaugurating the Youth Congress Convention at Byndoor on Thursday, Mr. Shivakumar said that the BJP government was only catering to the needs of the affluent. The weaker sections had been marginalized by it. “The Congress aims at taking all the communities on the path of progress. But, the BJP is only interested in playing communal politics,” he said.

Owing to the insecurity, investors were shying away from the State. When the S.M. Krishna was the Chief Minister, investments of Rs. 28,000 crore had flown into the State. Although Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had taken oath of office in the name of farmers, two farmers died in police firing at Haveri. The Government had mishandled the Padmapriya suicide case and there was no proper investigation of it.

Law and order had collapsed in the coastal districts. Moral policing was the order of the day. Hindutva groups such as Bajrang Dal were running a parallel administration in the region.

“The police are mute spectators to these illegal acts of Hindutva groups,” he said.

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