Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Apr 11: BJP member Harikrishna Bantwal was left red-faced in a press meet after reporters bombarded him with questions about the achievements of BJP Lok Sabha candidate Nalin Kumar Kateel as the MP of Dakshina Kannada for the last 10 years.

In a press meet at the BJP's office here, Harikrishna Bantwal was visibly embarassed when he was asked by a reporter to name at least one achievement of Nalin Kumar as MP.

Harikrishna seemed to be taken aback at first, and then after a few seconds of searching for words, he said, "We have an airport." The reporter shot back saying that the airport has been there since long, to which Harikrishna asked him to stop and let him complete what he was saying.

"See, we have an airport here, we have a port. What is it that we need here now?" Harikrishna said, without giving a direct answer. The reporter persisted in his questioning.

Another lady joined in, asking what happened to the funds Nalin brought for the constituency.

Finally, unable to recall any individual achievements of Nalin, Harikrishna resorted to playing the PM Modi card.

"Which party does Nalin Kumar belong to? Which party does Modi belong to? BJP isn't it?" he demanded from the lady who was questioning him. When she said Nalin's party affiliation was irrelevant to his achievement, Harikrishna said shaking his head, "The son has right to a piece of land belonging to his father. The son gets the fruits of his father's labour. In the same way, Narendra Modi formulates programmes, and if those programmes have to be brought to our district, the candidate from here has to go and tell him about it. How else will Modi know about our needs?"

The lady at once retorted, "Does that mean Narendra Modi has told him (Nalin) not to complete the Pumpwell flyover?"

Harikrishna Bantwal had been formerly in the Congress, before being expelled for anti-party activities in 2015. He joined the BJP two years later.