Predicting a “surprising development” in the Congress after the Lok Sabha elections, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the party will be split at the national level and that would affect the party in Karnataka as well.
“There are strong conflicts and competition with the State unit of the Congress. One is making all efforts to snatch the Chief Minister’s seat and the man on the seat is determined to continue. We had instances of parties getting divided overnight owing to such competition and lobbying. The party would be split at the national level impacting Karnataka as well,” Mr. Bommai said during his brief interaction with meidapersons in Kalaburagi on Tuesday.
Diving into the political history of Karnataka, Mr. Bommai said that Veerendra Patil had resigned as Chief Minister overnight.
“Even though D. Devaraj Urs became the Chief Minister after his party won over 130 seats in the State, the Congress was divided. There were no major leaders except for Gundu Rao, S. Bangarappa, and M. Veerappa Moily in the party. The government fell overnight and Gundu Rao became Chief Minister. Next, Mr. Bangarappa and Mr. Moily also became Chief Ministers,” he said.
“Numbers are not important in politics. Political scenario is very important. Political ambition of leaders will have a far lasting impact than the difference of opinion. We are curiously watching the post-Lok Sabha election developments,” Mr. Bommai said.
Later in the day, Mr. Bommai addressed graduates of the North East Graduates’ constituency of the Legislative Council and sought their support for the BJP candidate Amarnath Patil. He attacked the ruling Congress in Karnataka for “nurturing corruption” even in the education sector.
“Whenever the Congress comes to power, corruption gains momentum. The party nurtures corruption in education also. As a result, the quality of education falls. The Congress leaders always claim that they had done a lot of things for the educational and social development of Kalyana Karnataka. If they had done something, the educational scenario in the region would not have been so pathetic,” he said.
The former Chief Minister claimed that his government had finalised the plan to build 27,000 classrooms across the State in three years but the subsequent Congress government dropped the project.
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in 2016-17, extended his support to National Education Policy 2020 that sought replacement of Macaulay education system. However, the Siddaramaiah government has rejected it for political reasons. One year is over after its implementation and the second batch is admitted. Rolling back the policy would affect the future of students,” Mr. Bommai said.
Party leaders Shashil Namoshi, Basavaraj Mattimadu, B.G. Patil, Chandu Patil, Dattatreya Patil Revoor, Rajkumar Patil Telkur, Shivaraj Patil Raddewadagi and others were present.
Published - May 21, 2024 07:13 pm IST
