D.K. Shivakumar, Minister for Water Resources, has said that MPs of Bharatiya Janata Party who have represented Shivamogga seat since 2009 have failed to raise the problems faced by the people of Malnad region in the Parliament.
Speaking to presspersons here on Sunday, he said in the Lok Sabha election, the voters would teach the BJP a lesson for the failure of its MPs to respond to their woes.
Referring to the report of the K. Kasturirangan panel on the conservation of Western Ghats, he said that though the report had created apprehension among the people on displacement and on restrictions imposed on implementation of development works in ecologically sensitive areas, neither B.S. Yeddyurappa, who was elected from Shivamogga seat in 2014, nor B.Y. Raghavendra, who won in 2009 and emerged victorious in the recently-held byelection, have raised questions on the issue in the parliament.
Land grants
He added that even with regard to introducing amendment to the Forest Rights Act, 2006, to ensure conferring land grants to the applicants in an expedited manner, both Mr. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Raghavendra have maintained silence in the Parliament. Commenting on the problems faced by arecanut growers owing to fluctuations in the price and fungal infections, he said the slew of promises extended by Amit Shah, BJP national president, in Tirthahalli in 2018 on protecting the interests of arecanut growers remained unfulfilled.
Addressing a joint meeting of the workers of Congress and JD(S) in Tirthahalli town later, he said that by maintaining better coordination between the cadres of both parties during campaigning, it was possible to wrest Shivamogga parliamentary seat from the BJP. The Congress has ceded Shivamogga seat to JD(S) as part of seat sharing agreement and it was the responsibility of the leaders of both parties to strive for the victory of Madhu Bangarappa, JD(S) candidate. The workers of both the parties should understand that the coalition government was formed to keep divisive forces at bay, he added.
Kimmane Rathnakar, former Minister; R.M. Manjunatha Gowda, president, JD(S) district unit; and H.S. Sundaresh, president, Shivamogga District Congress Committee, were present.
