On a day when former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed his desire to become Chief Minister again, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao praised the Siddaramaiah government’s contributions to the State.
Speaking after launching the party’s manifesto for Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) elections, Mr. Rao said the Siddaramaiah government not only brought the maximum amount of investment to the State during its tenure, but also implemented programmes for the welfare of Dalits, farmers and backward classes, among others, besides the farm loan waiver extended to farmers.“Nobody can say that the government betrayed people,” he said, while emphasising the progressive outlook it had. He said the BJP had made no contribution to social justice. The saffron party’s only agenda was to ‘communalise’ the minds of people through its ‘Hindutva’ politics, Mr. Rao said, and blamed the BJP for poisoning the minds of the youth in coastal Karnataka.
Mr. Rao, who did not criticize the JD(S) or its leaders, said the party will have to beat both the BJP and JD(S) in the urban local body polls scheduled to be held across the State later this month.