Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday lashed out at both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) on their possible tie-up, saying that the former had “no courage” to put up candidates in the bypolls to Bangalore Rural and Mandya Lok Sabha constituencies, while the latter was “secular” only in name.
Addressing the Congress public meeting at Gottigere, which is part of Bangalore Rural constituency, he said the two parties got only 40 seats each in the Legislative Assembly elections, in spite of their “tacit understanding”, and it would not help them even now.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh, in charge of Karnataka, who inaugurated the meeting, said the JD(S) was a family-oriented party and the BJP had miserably failed in administering the government when it was in power.
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Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G. Parameshwara alleged that the BJP and the JD(S) had struck an understanding, throwing to the wind the latter’s secular principles. It would be better if it changes its name, he added.
“Will Deve Gowda accept Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, if his party wins the elections?” he asked.
KPCC former working president D.K. Shivakumar alleged that H.D. Kumaraswamy and N. Chaluvarayaswamy were playing with the interest of their voters by resigning as MPs from the Bangalore Rural and Mandya Lok Sabha constituencies to become MLAs, and the people would teach them a lesson.
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Mr. Singh criticised the Opposition, especially the BJP leaders, for their attack on the Union government over the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Actual Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and advised them not to indulge in politics while speaking about international issues.
On Kargil war
Referring to the statement made by senior BJP leader Yashwanth Sinha on the issue, Mr. Singh reminded him that the Congress had lent full support to the National Democratic Alliance government during the Kargil war. He said the Congress had constituted a high-level committee comprising senior leaders to study the situation in Telangana, and the Centre was confident of creating the new State.
Leaders meet Ramya
Mr. Singh and other Congress leaders met Ramya, party candidate in the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency bypoll and paid their condolences over the sudden demise of her guardian R.T. Narayan.