The former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dared Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to a public debate with the Congress on “unfulfilled promises” that the BJP mentioned in its manifesto during the 2018 Assembly elections.
Addressing a public meeting during the second phase of Praja Dhwani Yatra in Aurad town of Bidar district on Saturday, he pointed out that out of the 165 promises given by the Congress in the 2013 elections, 158 were implemented and in addition, 30 new welfare schemes were launched, but the BJP has not even fulfilled 50 of its 600 promises made to the people in the 2018 elections.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the BJP did not form the government with people’s mandate. The party did not have the majority, but it was made possible through Operation Kamala. The saffron party won 104 Assembly seats and indulged in horse trading offering ₹15 crore-₹20 crore to MLAs from different parties to come to power, he said.
Though the BJP bagged 104 seats, it secured only 36.42% of the total votes, whereas the Congress won 80 seats with 38.18% vote share.
Taking a jibe at the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for functioning from a five-star hotel during his tenure as Chief Minister in the Janata Dal(S)-Congress coalition government, Mr. Siddaramaiah held the former responsible for the fall of the coalition government in the State. The BJP then poached coalition legislators and formed the government undemocratically, through the backdoor, he added.
Mr. Siddaramaiah appealed to the party workers to work unitedly to uproot the BJP from the Aurad segment. There are 27 aspirants for Congress ticket from Aurad constituency and only one from the constituency will get ticket. And, those not getting ticket must not take it personally but work for the party, he added.
Mr. Siddaramaiah made a scathing attack on Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan in his home turf and said that Mr. Chavan does not know the difference between goats and cattle. He also gave wrong replies to my questions during the Assembly session.
“I could have filed a case against him but I did not do that. There was a contradictory reply in his answer on the number of goats and cattle head being vaccinated. Nearly 10,000 to 15,000 cattle head have not been vaccinated. And, do you want to elect a person who does not have any concern towards farmers and cattle as your leader,” he said.
Reiterating the Congress’ commitment towards farmers, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the previous Congress-led government had in 2017 waived ₹8,165 crore of short-term cooperative loans taken by 22.27 lakh farmers across the State.
