S.L. Bhoje Gowda, Janata Dal (Secular) candidate for the Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituency, said on Friday that the Congress always misled minority communities and treated them only as vote banks.
He told presspersons here that the Congress misled the minorities by saying that if they voted for JD(S), their votes would get divided benefiting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In spite of the minority communities voting for the Congress, the position of that party had not improved. “Hence, this time, the minority communities should vote for JD(S),” he said. Though the Congress secured the votes of minority communities, it had done little for their welfare. On the other hand, the BJP tried to get votes by inflaming communal passions. “We will give a tough competition to the Congress and the BJP. We will focus on door-to-door campaigning,” he said.
Though Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda announced a couple of months ago that the government had provided Rs. 50 crore to the Christian Development Board, the fact was that not a single paise had been released, he said.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, many JD(S) workers voted for the Congress as they did not want a split in secular votes to benefit the BJP. In spite of that Congress candidate K. Jayaprakash Hegde (who is also the Congress candidate for this by-poll) was defeated by 27,000 votes. Janata Dal (S) was strong in Chikmagalur district. “This time, it will be a triangular fight and the by-poll will produce an astonishing result,” Mr. Gowda said.
Janata Dal (S) leader Mahendra Kumar said that there was an undercurrent in favour of the party in Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency. Dalits and minority communities had turned against the BJP. BJP candidate V. Sunil Kumar had done no work as Karkala MLA from 2004-08. Hence, people were not in his favour, he said.
President of Udupi district JD (S) unit Deviprasad Shetty said that the BJP was facing a crisis of leadership in the constituency. Hence, it had inducted former Minister Manorama Madhwaraj, who was with the Congress. Ms. Madhwaraj had not joined the BJP because she liked it, but to protect her son and Congress leader Pramod Madhwaraj's business interests. “In fact, there is an internal agreement between the BJP and Congress to protect each other's interests,” he said.
Janata Dal (S) leaders Vasudeva Rao and Ghulam Mohammed were present.
