DVS Demands Public Apology from Cong, JD(S) for Insulting Kempegowda
From Our Special Correpondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, Mar 24: ``Who are these Congress and JD(S) leaders to insult Kempegowda, the founder of Bangalore?,” asked former Karnataka BJP President D V Sadananda Gowda, MP, and demanded a public apology from leaders of both parties.

Addressing a news conference, he said the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leaders, had in their manifesto for the coming Sunday’s BBMP polls, had published pictures of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi above that of Kempegowda which was a serious insult to the founder of Bangalore. Adding insult to injury, the KPCC manifesto had put the Congress party’s ``hand” symbol above the picture of Kempegowda, the BJP leader said.

As far as the JD(S) was concerned, Sadananda Gowda said the party’s election manifesto  went to the extent of equating former chief minister and state JD(S) president H D Kumaraswamy with Kempegowda by printing the words, ``From Kempegowda to Kumaranna,” which was highly derogatory and smacked of arrogance.

The former state BJP President demanded a public apology from the leaders of both Congress and JD(S) for insulting the founder of Bangalore and urged the people of Bangalore to teach a befitting lesson to both parties by rejecting their candidates and voting in favour the BJP.

"We will win at least 125 to 130 seats out of the 198 wards in the BBMP polls,” he said claiming that he was convinced of the overwhelming support from the people for the ruling party based on the 21-month performance of the B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in  the state. ``There is little doubt about the next Mayor belonging to BJP in the BBMP council,” he claimed.

He alleged that the Congress was totally bankrupt of leadership in the city and the state and had to rely upon its Central leaders like S M Krishna, Mallikarjuna Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad for their election campaign while the JD(S) lacked its own agenda, except harping on Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project with a view to mislead and hoodwink the farmers.

In sharp reaction to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad for alleging that the BJP government had failed to implement the Centrally sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme and for wrongly claiming that the Centre had released Rs 22,000 crore to Bangalore, Sadananda Gowda claimed that the Centre had actually released barely RS 818.06 crore to Karnataka while the state government had spent Rs 1,621.62 crore. The promised amount of Rs 2,103 crore to the state was yet to be received fully, he said quoting the figures given by state’s law and urban development minister S Suresh Kumar.

As many as 10 programmes taken up under the JNNURM programme have already been completed and inaugurated while another three will completed by the end of this month, he said pointing out that the government has already taken steps to complete implemention of all programmes by the end of the 2011-12 financial year.

Sadananda Gowda challenged Azad, who is also AICC general secretary, to explain why the Centre was yet to sanction 17 programmes proposed by the state under the JNNURM with a total outlay of Rs 1,553 crore. ``People holding responsible positions at the Centre should not level baseless allegations without ascertaining the facts,’’ the BJP leader said.