BENGALURU: Days after assuming power, the Congress has come under attack from both the Janata Dal (Secular) and the prinicpal opposition party, the BJP, over the delay in implementation of its election guarantees.
On Friday, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said the Congress should keep its word and implement the free schemes immediately, failing which, he said, the JD(S) will launch an agitation.
Former BJP minister R Ashoka, who addressed a press conference at the party office here, also said the Congress is cheating the people of the state by not implementing the guarantees it had made during the election campaign.
As per Kumaraswamy’s plan, the JD(S) will wait till the Siddaramaiah cabinet holds two meetings to implement the five guarantees without any conditions. If it is not done, then the party will hold a statewide agitation. The party will also hold overnight protest in the Assembly if the Congress goes back on its word. The party will also distribute pamphlets to houses on the Congress deception, he said.
Meanwhile, former BJP minister R Ashoka, who addressed a press conference along with Govind Karjol and MLCs N Ravikumar and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi had promised that the five guarantees will be implemented after the first cabinet meeting and added that the government had cheated the people. “
Citizens are waiting for the government to implement the guarantees, but Congress leaders are boarding planes to Delhi to check if they are guaranteed of ministries. They gave guarantee cards to even ‘people on the streets”, he said, taking a dig at Deputy CM D K Shivakumar.
Asking people not to pay their power bills and women not to pay bus fare, Ashoka asked, “Wasn’t Siddaramaiah, who has presented 13 budgets, not aware of the cost involved? Did he not have information about the number of below poverty line (BPL) families?”
He also mocked the Congress government as one with double steering and said the Deputy CM speaks ahead of Chief Minister. “The CM is silent and the Deputy CM is violent”, he remarked. He also accused the Deputy CM of threatening the police force.
On the Congress threat to ban the RSS, Ashoka said neither Rahul Gandhi’s father or grandmother were able to do it. “I dare them to ban even one branch of the RSS. All the officials cars will return to Vidhana Soudha and will be parked there. If the Congress bans the RSS, the government will fall within three months”, he said.