BENGALURU: Amid drama in the Karnataka Congress over the Kolar Lok Sabha seat, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said that there was no room for individual interest in the party, adding that all the party leaders will work towards victory in Kolar.
Speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence here, Shivakumar said, “There is pressure from candidates for the ticket in Kolar. It will be discussed in a meeting with the Chief Minister. No one will resign from the party over this”, he said.
Touting the work done Congress MP D K Suresh in the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha Constituency, Shivakumar said, “When political leaders were scared of stepping out during Covid, Suresh visited hospitals in a PPE kit and enquired about the health of patients. It is all history now, but he has risked his life to serve the people. He works like a panchayat member every single day. He doesn’t have to make special preparations during elections. We have people and party workers on our side”.
#WATCH | Congress MP DK Suresh takes blessings from his brother & Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, ahead of filing nomination from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha seat pic.twitter.com/oOOzSTliaE
— ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2024
On contesting against the BJP and JD(S) in the upcoming elections, Shivakumar said that the Congress has a history of contesting against the Deve Gowda family.
Asked about taking on BJP and JD(S) in Bengaluru Rural constituency, he said, “We have fought many elections against the Deve Gowda family. We have got a woman elected against Deve Gowda. I have faced Kumaraswamy in an election. Suresh had won an election against Anita Kumaraswamy, who was the joint candidate of BJP and JD(S). We defeated Anita Kumaraswamy by a huge margin even when I was not a minister in the previous Siddaramaiah government. People have been supporting us ever since”.
To a query on BJP fielding Govind Karjol from Chitradurga, he said, “Let them field anyone, we have fielded Chandrappa. the BJP has refused tickets to sitting MPs and ministers and it clearly shows that BJP has weakened in the state”.
Asked about star campaigners from Congress, he said, “AICC president is from Karnataka itself. We have requested Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi to visit Karnataka. Considering they have to travel across the country for the campaign, we can’t expect too many days in Karnataka”, Shivakumar stated.
Karnataka, which has 28 Lok Sabha seats, will vote in two phases on April 26 and May 7. The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be held in seven phases, starting on April 19. The counting of votes is on June 4.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress and JD(S) fought together against the BJP and the combine was decimated. The BJP had won a record 25 seats; Congress and JD-S won just one seat each.(ANI)