Shivamogga MP and national vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party B.S. Yeddyurappa on Thursday called upon the party functionaries to work with commitment for the success of the membership drive.
He was speaking after inaugurating the BJP’s membership drive organised to mark the 91st birthday of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee here.
The party leadership is aiming at enrolling 10 crore people as members of the party. For Shivamogga district, the target for enrolment has been fixed at 3 lakh people. The BJP functionaries should consider the membership drive as an opportunity to strengthen the party’s base. It was essential to apprise the people from cross sections of society, including entrepreneurs and academicians, of the ideology of the BJP and bring them to the party fold, he said.
He flayed the style of functioning of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and termed the latter’s style of functioning arbitrary. By tabling the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments(Amendment) Bill in the recent session of the State Assembly, the government tried to take control of maths. The State government’s move had hurt the religious sentiments of people, he said.
Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa, in his address said the Congress government in the State had failed to address the problems of farmers. He ridiculed the State government for its alleged failure to settle the dues that the management of sugar factories owed to farmers, who had supplied canes. Of the Rs. 2,500 a tonne advisory price declared for sugarcane, a majority of sugar factories had only paid Rs. 2,100. The State government was expected to direct the sugar factory managements to pay the balance of amounts to farmers expeditiously. It was unfortunate that bowing to the pressure exerted by the sugar factory managements, the State government had allowed them to pay the dues by June 2015 in two instalments. Farmers who had cultivated onion, cotton and maize in the State were in dire straits owing to a slump in the prices of these items. The government had failed to rescue these farmers, he said.
A blood donation camp was organised to mark the occasion. A documentary on the life and achievements of Mr. Vajpayee was also screened. Member of Rajya Sabha Ayanur Manjunath, party’s district unit president S. Dattatri and functionary Rudre Gowda were present.
