Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network-Mangalore(MD)
 
Mangalore, Mar 26: "We will win a total of 15 seats this time in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections," said SDPI Karnataka State president Abdul Majeed Kodlipete during a joint press meet of the Janata Dal (Secular) party and the state unit of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on Tuesday March 25 at Hotel Srinivas, Mangalore.
 
Devi Prasad Shetty, president, Udupi district JD(S),  Abdul Majeed Kodlipete, president, SDPI Karnataka state, Mohammed Kunhi, district working president of JD(S), Abdul Lateef, state general secretary of SDPI, and Mohammad Shafi were present during the joint press meet.

Addressing the media, Kodlipete said, "From the past one month, the JD(S), SDPI, H D Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister of India, and JD(S) former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy have come together, conducted meetings, and agreed to ally together to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. JD(S) has given Dakshina Kannada district to the SDPI to contest the Lok Sabha elections from and in all other districts, the JD(S) is contesting. From the past five years, the SDPI has raised its voice for the benefit of the people. Our main aim is to give power and authority to the normal people and the SDPI and JD(S) have come together to remove the corrupt politicians of the Congress and the BJP. Both these parties are creating communal conflicts and we can picture the upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha election and what is going to happen.”
 
"A corrupt party is not going to win this time and if JD(S) wins, H D Deve Gowda will rise again, he will come to power to protect and help people who are in need of it,” he said.
 
Answering the question asked by a reporter as to why the SDPI is contesting only in Mangalore constituency and why not in Mysore where the SDPI's stance is strong, he said, "We had an offer to contest from Mysore also but we have given the chance to the JD(S) to contest because JD(S) has more chances of winning in Mysore.”
 
When the media asked Abdul Majeed about his and his party’s stance regarding moral policing, he said that the actions of organizations like PFY, Bajrang Dal, and various others who do not have the authority to take control of people is offensive and the SDPI condemns it.
 
JD(S) district president M B Sadashiva said that Haneef Khan Kodaje is the right candidate to contest from Mangalore constituency.
 
"For people, the 2014 Lok Sabha election is very important and people know how many problems they have faced so far. About 32 percent of the water is coming to Karnataka, whereas 62 percent of water is going to Tamil Nadu 62. In Karnataka, everyone is facing a shortage of water and on the Shiradi Ghat we have seen how bad it is. Everyone knows that the minister of road transport and highways is Oscar Fernandes, who is from Karnataka,” said Sadashiva.
 
“The Congress is not stopping the Yettinahole project and when they are asked about it, every time they come up with a cheeky answer that D V Sadananda Gowda had started this project when he was the chief minister of Karnataka,” he added.
 
Sadashiva also cleared the doubts of reporters regarding their stance on Yettinahole project as he said that if the JD(S)-SDPI wins the 2014 Lok Sabha election, they will stop this project completely.
 
Haneef Khan Kodaje, SDPI candidate for Lok Sabha election from Mangalore constituency, made a faux pas by saying, “The Congress and JD(S) are spoiling the environment of India,” instead of, “The Congress and BJP are spoiling the environment of India".
 
It is clear that the SDPI is angry and sad at getting only Mangalore constituency to contest from despite having a really strong presence in Mysore.