Unleashing a scathing attack on senior Congress leaders of the Hyderabad Karnataka region, BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa has said that these political leaders were primarily responsible for the region’s backwardness. He was addressing a Jana Samparka Abhiyan here on Thursday after visiting a few Dalit localities and having food at their houses.
Taking a dig at the successive chairpersons of the Hyderabad Karnataka Region Development Board (HKRDB), Mr. Yeddyurappa said that the board had failed to make effective utilisation of funds received in the last five years for the development of the region.
The government had allocated ₹ 4,512 crore between 2013-14 and 2017-18 to the board, of which only ₹ 2,080 crore was released and ₹ 1,697 crore spent on various development works. During 2017-18, the government had allocated ₹ 1,500 crore of which merely ₹ 40.40 crore had been spent, he added.
The former Chief Minister continued his tirade against Chief Minister Siddramaiah demanding wavier of crop loans and resumption of procurement of red gram crop which remained unsold.
Mr. Yeddyurappa set June 30 as deadline for the government to address these issues and threatened to launch a State-wide agitation on July 14 at Bengaluru if the government failed to address issues concerning farmers.
Obliquely referring to the prolonged control of senior Congress M. Mallikarjun Kharge and N. Dharam Singh over the district, Mr. Yeddyurappa asked his party workers not to be too obedient to these leaders.
“Our party workers too are responsible for the backwardness of the region as they have not questioned the misrule of the senior Congress leaders from the region. They [Congress leaders] might be politically strong and may have controlled the region for the last 40 years but our party workers need not to be too obedient to question them,” he said.
Mr. Yeddyurappa indicated that the Congress government is mulling over the option of pre-poning Assembly polls to take the advantage of a pro-Congress wave reflected in the in recent by-elections in Nanjungud and Gundlupet. While the Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in May 2018, they are likely to be advanced to December this year, he said. He called upon the party workers to focus on strengthening the party from the grassroots. He also promised to select candidates on the basis of a survey and said, “winning horses” would be the criterion for allotment of ticket for the upcoming polls.
