With Assembly elections nearing, Congress leaders in the State have started displaying their unity. This was clear at the rally in Kolar on Sunday which saw participation of a posse of State-level and central leaders.
Some leaders even spoke about unity among party leaders and said they wanted to send out a clear message to other political parties and voters.
The party launched its ‘Congressnondige banni, badalavane tanni’ campaign in the district at the Government Pre University College ground here.
Kolar is considered a Congress bastion with the Kolar Lok Sabha constituency returning the party candidates 14 times in the last 15 elections. Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises K.H. Muniyappa has been elected from here for the sixth consecutive time.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G. Parameshwara said the Assembly elections might happen earlier if the government collapses due to the Bharatiya Janata Party-Karnataka Janata Paksha tussle.
“We are ready for the elections and are confident of returning to power,” he announced to a thumping applause from the large gathering.
Pointing at journalists, the former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly K.R. Ramesh Kumar said, “Media friends should not be writing that there is no unity in the Congress. We will face the elections together.”
Dr. Parameshwara echoed the same sentiments.
Party leaders such as K. Rahman Khan, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Siddaramaiah, Rani Satish, B.K. Hariprasad, D.K. Shivakumar, V.R. Sudarshan, Veeranna Mattikatti, Motamma, D.K. Taradevi, M.V. Rajasekharan, T.B. Jayachandra, S.R. Patil, M.L. Anilkumar, District Congress Committee president, and Rizwan Arshad, State Youth Congress president, were present.
The leaders spoke mainly about “corruption and maladministration” by the BJP government. They also targeted Janata Dal (Secular) leaders H.D. Deve Gowda and H.D. Kumaraswamy for their alleged role in the growth of “communal” BJP in Karnataka.
Though the former chief Minister S.M. Krishna and Madhusudan Mistry, AICC general secretary in charge of the party affairs in Karnataka, were scheduled to attend the rally, they did not make it.
