Minister for Agriculture N. Cheluvarayaswamy on Wednesday, April 17, asked former Chief Minister and JD(S) candidate for Mandya Lok Sabha constituency H.D. Kumaraswamy whether he was scared of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for coming to Mandya to campaign for the party candidate.
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To a question on Mr. Kumaraswamy’s comment that the State Congress leaders have brought Mr. Gandhi to Mandya unable to face him, the Minister asked, “Why did Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally held in Mysuru seeking support for the BJP and JD(S) alliance candidates? Why did the Goa CM campaign in Belagavi today?”
Addressing a press conference after Mr. Gandhi’s rally in Mandya, the Minister said Mr. Gandhi’s rally was a party programme to campaign for the Congress candidate ‘Star’ Chandru (Venkataramane Gowda). “If he (Mr. Kumaraswamy) has commented like that, I will ask whether he was scared of Mr. Gandhi coming to Mandya,” he said, while replying to questions.
He accused Mr. Kumaraswamy of telling lies to garner votes and raising issues that cannot be sorted out now and also in the capacity of an MP. “He is making election speeches. If anybody has to develop Mandya, it is us the MLAs and MLCs of the Congress from the constituencies with grants from the State. He was making tall claims to the people. “Being a former CM, how can he make statements that are beyond his limits.”
He accused the JD(S) of shifting the dairy projects from Mandya to Hassan. “This is the development Mr. Kumaraswamy is talking about. It is Mr. Siddaramaiah who gave funds for the canal modernisation for the benefit of farmers in Mandya and Tumakuru.”