HAVERI: As part of village stay programme, Revenue minister R Ashoka stayed Atal Bihari Vajpayee residential school at Bada village in Shiggaon taluk under the ‘Jilladhikari Nade Halli Kade’ initiative on Sunday. He planted saplings on the campus and watched a Karate display by students.
He said Karate is very important for self-defense and advised to students to study well. He exercised and took a walk around the school campus. Later, he served breakfast of upma and kesari bhath to the school students. Deputy Commissioner Raghunandanmurthy and district level officers accompanied the minister.
He also had breakfast at the house of Pakkirappa, a Dalit. The family welcomed him by performing arati. Ashoka had relished the breakfast which included jowar roti, chutney, curry made of sprouted gram, curds and upma.
“I have come to the birthplace of poet-saint Kanakadasa. The Basavaraj Bommai-led governrment is focused on development. Caste system should be rid from society and all communities should join the mainstream. The village-stay is being organised to understand the problems of the people first hand”, the minister said.
“Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has dedicated himself to improving the lives of people. If you see tears in the CM’s eyes, it shows his satisfaction with the work done and indicates that he is overwhelmed. I am happy with the village stay programme, it gives pleasure to work on the ground instead of sitting at Vidhana Soudha. This is a school, I am a student here and learning, experiencing new things every day. I will get an opportunity to share the joys and sorrows of people”.
Referring to the upcoming Belagavi winter session of the legislature, Ashoka said, “The Bommai-led government is clean. The opposition has been criticising it without an evidence. It is intended to give reservation to different communities. Reservation has been increased for SCs, STs and the CM has referred the Vokkaligas’ demand for 10 per cent reservation to the Backward Classes Commission.”
To a question on KPCC chief D K Shivakumar’s statement regarding the Mangaluru cooker blast suspect Mohammed Shariq, Ashoka said, “Congress works for vote bank politics. It has been established that Shariq is a terrorist and extremist and even received funding for his activities. The Police have investigated the case from all angles. Shivakumar called Shariq as innocent. He should be honoured with a Nobel Prize for that”.
“If you look at the history of the Congress, the party never spoke on behalf of the majority. All they need is a vote bank. The bomb exploded and it is proved that Shariq has links with terrorists. He learnt about bomb making and prepared a bomb. But Shivakumar speaks in favour of him and he says he is not a terrorist. A new award should be given to Shivakumar for showing so much concern for Shariq”, he remarked.