From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Mandya, Apr 17: Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC Chief D K Shivakumar lauded Rahul Gandhi as the lucky charm of the Congress party.
Addressing the Congress party’s Prajadvani Yatra 2 at Mandya on Wednesday, he said, “As part of the historic Bharat Jodo yatra, Rahul Gandhi walked from Chamarajanagar to Raichur. Congress party won all the seats en route the yatra in Karnataka and came to power. He is a lucky charm for the Party.”
“Rahul Gandhi is fighting against inflation and unemployment on behalf of the people. The people of Mandya gave Congress party 7 of 8 seats last time. I am confident the people will support this time too. I am not going to talk about the Opposition candidate because he has not been there for the people of Mandya when they needed,” he said.Shivakumar said the “Congress party is thinking about building lives of the people while the BJP is thinking of exploiting the people emotionally. I have taken an oath to complete the Mekedatu project. The Centre did not give approvals to Mekedatu project even when there was ‘double engine sarkar’. In spite of difficult conditions, we have given water to the people of this region.”
“Rahul Gandhi called JDS the B team of BJP in the last election. Now, the JDS has officially joined hands with the BJP and become one team. Star Chandru isn’t the only candidate in Mandya, D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjuna Kharge are all candidates,” he added.
Lashing out JDS, he asked: “Why is JDS fielding Kumaraswamy? Did the party not have anyone from Mandya? Many leaders worked hard to make him the CM and they could have been given the seat. He has cheated the people who elected you to the Legislative Assembly and has now come to take the people of Mandya for a ride.”
“Congress party will in 20 seats including Mandya, Hasan, Bengaluru Rural and Kolar,” he predicted.
“The women of the State have fought for their self-respect. You have done the right thing by condemning those who said that women are losing their way because of guarantee schemes. Thousands of JDS workers are joining Congress, former JDS MLA Srinivas has joined the Congress today,” he said.
The KPCC Chief said, “BJP State President Vijayendra has said Congress guarantees are temporary. He said he would stop the guarantee schemes if BJP came to power. They need to understand that guarantee schemes are part of people’s lives and livelihoods.
“I dare you to stop these guarantee schemes,” Shivakumar challenged.
HDK will lose in Mandya, says CM
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said JDS chief and JDS-BJP candidate H D Kumaraswamy will definitely be defeated in Mandya, which is a certainty just as sunrise and sunset.
Siddaramaiah said Kumaraswamy hails from Hassan and had won from Ramanagara and Channapatna. “If he wanted to enter Lok Sabha, he should have contested from Bengaluru Rural and instead is contesting from Mandya, But the people of Mandya have decided to defeat just as his son Nikhil was defeated in 2019,” he predicted.
Lambasting BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all the tall promises, which have remained unfulfilled, the Chief Minister said “even after 10 years, the Achche Din promised by Modi has not dawned. The petrol, diesel, LPG prices and the cost of essential commodities has not come down and the inflation is spiralling.”
“Unlike the empty promises of BJP and Modi, the Congress party has implemented the guarantees promised during the assembly polls and the poorer families are benefitted to the tune of Rs 5,000 to 6,000 every month. The Congress government implemented the guarantees despite the hurdles and criticism by Modi and BJP,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the BJP emotionally exploits and rakes up sensitive issues to polarise voters while Congress is trying to unite and protect the Constitution. “The people gave 27 seats to BJP, including the independent backed by it, and none of them raised their voices to protect the interests of the State,” he said declaring that the Congress will win more than 20 out of the 28 seats.