BENGALURU, NEW DELHI: Leaders of the BJP and Congress took swipes at each other as electioneering gathers pace in Karnataka with just a few weeks left for polling.
While the Congress taunted BJP over “delay” in the declaration of its candidate list, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai hit back saying that the opposition party did not have candidates in many seats and got them from other parties.
The Congress and Janata Dal-Secular have announced 166 and 93 candidates respectively so far for the Karnataka polls The two parties also sparred over the Karnataka government’s decision to remove religious minorities from the OBC list, which gave them 4 per cent reservation, and putting them under the 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections.
Bommai said that the BJP’s central leadership will decide the candidates and the state unit has recommend a panel of names. “Tickets will most likely be distributed on April 10. The process of candidate selection is going on as per the rules. We held meetings for three consecutive days and took the opinion of party workers, leaders and people. The final list will be discussed as we have cleared three names for each constituency”, he said.
He also responded to Congress leader D K Shivakumar’s remarks that they will undo the decision of the BJP government concerning the reservation of religious minorities in the OBC list. “They can’t touch it, let’s see what they can do”, Bommai said.
Siddaramaiah, who is seen as a chief ministerial aspirant if Congress wins the polls, said the party is hopeful of winning at least 130 of 224 seats. He said this is going to be his last election and he will retire from electoral politics.
Siddaramaiah also said his relationship with KPCC president D K Shivakumar is cordial. “I am contesting from Varuna Assembly constituency as my native village comes under this constituency. This is going to be my last election and I will retire from electoral politics. It’s not that I am interested to contest from Kolar, but the people want me to contest from there,” he said.
Further, he said, “My relationship with D K Shivakumar is cordial. There are no differences between us. Of course, differences exist in democracy, but it is not detrimental to the interests of the party. We are expecting more than 130 seats this time and Congress will come to power with a comfortable majority on its own. People have decided to change the government”.
Siddaramaiah attacked the Chief Minister and the ruling BJP. “The BJP is a sectarian party while ours is a secular party. There can’t be any disparity among the people of Karnataka. I treat all human beings equally whether they belong to Hindu, Muslim, Christian or any other community or religion, I treat them all equally,” he said.
“Basavaraj Bommai miserably failed to protect the interest of Kannadigas. He has no business to continue as CM. Modi and Shah are coming to Karnataka to get votes and claim it’s a double-engine government, but Maharashtra government is blatantly interfering with the freedom of the state”, he pointed out.
He also hit out at the BJP over its move on reservations. “Recategorising (of reservation) is not proper, not constitutional. It is not valid… We’ve no objection to increasing the reservation for Vokkaligas and Lingayats, but why did they abolish the reservation of Muslims? It clearly shows vendetta and hate politics”, the Congress leader said.
Shivakumar took a dig at BJP and said that while the Congress has released two lists of candidates, the BJP has not been able “to release even its first list”. He also said that if Congress forms the government in Karnataka, it will change the BJP government’s decision to remove religious minorities from the OBC list, under which they got 4 per cent reservation.
“Till now, Congress party has released two lists of candidates and discussions are going on for a third list and as soon as possible Congress will release that too. But the BJP has not been able to release even its first list yet”, Shivakumar taunted. Congress on Thursday announced its second list of 42 candidates for the Karnataka polls. No decision has yet been taken on who will contest from Kolar.
He also took potshots at AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi. “I don’t want to discuss much on that. Asaduddin Owaisi is like A team, B Team and C Team of BJP. People of Karnataka are very intelligent and Congress will form the government”, he said.
“The BJP government removed 4 per cent reservation for minorities which is against the law and the minority (community) is going to support the Congress party. After the Congress government is formed, we will protect the right of minorities and reservation policy will be changed”, Shivakumar added.
The Karnataka BJP also hit back at Shivakumar. “D K Shivakumar has said that they will cancel the reservation given to Vokkaliga, Veerashaiva-Lingayat, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. For appeasement politics, the right of these communities to be uprooted INC Karnataka will be punished accordingly”, the party said in a tweet.
Congress MP Randeep Surjewala, who is AICC incharge of Karnataka, alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “panic-striken” as it has not announced its first list of candidates for the Karnataka Assembly elections.
“Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is unwilling to fight election from his seat and his ministers don’t want to contest from their seats either. All are running away from their seats. Nobody wants to contest the election therefore, they’re dependent on film stars and rowdy sheeters”, he alleged.
Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that the BJP has always ensured social justice while distributing tickets for elections. “The BJP has always given a lot of opportunities to the youth and women and has maintained social justice. Above all, we have always given priority to workers of the party. So the party is different from all other parties today,” he said.
He said Congress does not have clarity on its chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming election. “I am seeing more Surjewala than Siddaramaiah and D K Shivkumar. Let them decide on one face. How can they say both? They (Congress) are not clear, they have no clarity on who will become the CM. We have clarity, we have our PM under whose guidance the government will run and we have an able, efficient CM Basavaraj Bommai who is also the chairman of the campaign committee”, Sudhakar said. (ANI)