Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Apr 7: Karnataka chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, visited the city on Sunday April 7 as part of his state-wide tour for brightening the electoral prospects of coalition candidates in the Lok Sabha election.

Noting that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is arriving here on April 13 to address a rally, he said Rahul Gandhi too is slated to come here that day. "If the dates are clashing, he will come here before or after April 13," he clarified.

Kumaraswamy wondered what message Modi can give to the people of coastal Karnataka. "Modi has been covering up problems here rather than addressing them. What is his contribution to the development of this area? The only credits he can lay claim on are airport privatisation, and merger of Vijaya Bank. Both these entities were not making losses. These are issues concerning the self respect of the people here. Does Modi want people of this area to vote for him for these achievements?" he sought to know.

Kumaraswamy said that the coalition parties are determined to win Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha seats. He said he would hold talks with the leaders here on how to go about it and ensure victory.

When he was asked about his former close aide, Cheluvarayaswamy, he refused to say anything. He just dismissed the suggestion by saying that there is nothing to speak of him.

On Mandya election, Kumaraswamy said he and his people are sure about his son's victory there. However, he noted that the media seems to be nursing some doubts. "The media people are struggling to project us as under pressure. More than other parties, media heads are trying to decimate us. However, these tricks will not work with the people of Mandya," he said with confidence.

The chief minister was livid again about the media role in giving negative publicity to him and his party on a regular basis. He wanted to know from the media whether they are happy with the actual support Nikhil enjoys from the people in Mandya, as against the adverse publicity they are indulging in. He wanted to know whether the media follows ethics or not. He blamed them for showing their opponents when his own people are giving their responses to questions. He also chided them for projecting as if election is being held only in Mandya, and not other places.

Kumaraswamy also said that the questions media people raise many a time have no meaning. He also fumed at them for creating problems in the functioning of the government from the day the coalition government was formed in the state. He asked them to introspect about what they have done so far by rewinding and checking for themselves what they have been showing all these days and checking the facts against the ground reality.