The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency Kota Srinivas Poojary on Thursday claimed the electors will ensure the victory of the party with higher margins to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking to reporters in Udupi, Mr. Poojary said: “C.T. Ravi called me immediately after ticket was announced and promised to work hard to ensure victory with more winning margins. Shobha Karandlaje (incumbent) too called me to congratulate the nomination. Pramod Madhwaraj, who must be out of the State, sent a WhatsApp voice message extending complete support for the success of Mr. Modi,” Mr. Poojary said.
While Mr. Ravi and Mr. Madhwaraj were strong contenders for party ticket from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, Ms. Karandlaje too had been claiming she would contest from the same constituency from which she got elected in 2014 and 2019. The BJP has now nominated Ms. Karandlaje to contest Bengaluru North Lok Sabha constituency.
Mr. Poojary said the party has given him many opportunities, right from becoming the gram panchayat member to the member of the Legislative Council, a Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Now that the party has chosen him to represent the Lok Sabha constituency, he would do his best for the welfare of people and strengthen the BJP, Mr. Poojary said.
The Leader of the Opposition criticised the Congress and the Siddaramaiah government for the ‘tardy’ implementation of the guarantee schemes and claimed the benefits have reached only a marginal section of the targeted groups.
While about 40 lakh unemployed youth should have been benefited at an estimated cost of ₹10,000 crore under the Yuva Nidhi scheme, the government cheated thousands by limiting the scheme to only 2022-23 passed out candidates and spending about ₹ 400 crore. Under Gruhalakshmi scheme too, more than 10.5 lakh identified families did not even get the first instalment of ₹2,000, he said.
The worst has been the Anna Bhagya scheme, Mr. Poojary noted. The Congress government was distributing 5 kg rice per person a month as its own; in reality the rice was part of 22 lakh quintals of rice being provided by the Centre free of cost to the State. The cash component of ₹170 per person in lieu of the additional 5 kg rice too was not being paid properly, Mr. Poojary alleged.
Kundapura MLA A. Kiran Kumar Kodgi, Kaup MLA Gurme Suresh Shetty, District BJP President Kishore Kumar Kundapura, former MLA Lalaji R. Mendon and others were present.
