The former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s ambition to succeed floating a regional party will nosedive as no regional party in the past has been successful in the State, Union Labour Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge has said.
“People have seen in the past that regional parties could never make any significant impact in State politics; the efforts of Mr. Yeddyurappa too will meet the same fate,” he told presspersons here on Sunday after inaugurating the new District Congress Committee (DCC) office.
Giving examples from the past, he said leaders such as Devaraj Urs, Ramakrishna Hegde and S. Bangarappa also launched their regional parties, but didn’t get the desired result because people of the State did not accept the concept.
“When ideological and principled people such as Hegde, Urs and Bangarappa failed, how can Mr. Yeddyurappa, who is facing several corruption charges, succeed,” Mr. Kharge asked.
Terming the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Karnataka Janata Paksha as two sides of same coin, the Congress leader said both parties were similar in their policies.
To a question, he said the launch of KJP would not hurt the prospects of the Congress in the elections.
With regard to the future course of action, Mr. Kharge said the Congress would decide its strategy only after observing the outcome of the KJP convention held in Haveri on Sunday.
Asked if his party would ask Governor H.R. Bhardwaj to recommend dissolution of the Assembly, considering the political instability in the BJP, Mr. Kharge said, “When the BJP government itself is suicidal, why should we seek its dismissal.”
The former Chief Minister and Bidar MP N. Dharam Singh, Leader of the Opposition in the Council S.R. Patil and other party leaders were present.
Earlier, they cut a cake to celebrate the birthday of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
