Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged the Congress party workers to highlight the five guarantee schemes implemented by the government during the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
He was addressing the party workers at a programme where former Minister M. Shivanna, who was with the BJP, returned to the Congress fold along with a few of his followers.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said within months of coming to power the Congress had implemented the guarantee schemes and was benefitting millions of people and the party workers should highlight this. “Between 2013 and 2018 we had made 165 promises of which 158 were fulfilled and this was in contrast to nearly 600 promises in the BJP manifesto of which hardly 10 per cent was fulfilled,” he added urging the party workers to highlight this aspect during the campaign.
The Chief Minister lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “failure” to reign in prices of essential commodities and said that an LPG cylinder costed ₹440 in 2014 when Mr. Modi came to power but now it was priced at ₹1,100. The promised good days or “achhe din” has turned out to be a chimera and hence people should wonder as to why the BJP should be voted to power again, Mr. Siddaramaiah added.
He accused the BJP of flouting constitutional norms and not believing in the emancipation of women and Dalits alleging that there were no programmes from the union government for their welfare. Only the wealth of the corporates like Ambanis and Adanis have multiplied, he added.
Referring to Shivanna as a prominent Dalit leader, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he was in the wrong party because the BJP believes in the pernicious caste system and subjugates people while the Congress believes in the Constitution and the concept of equality for all.
“In contrast, the BJP upholds manusmriti and eschews the constitutional principles. Communities subjugated by the caste system should not support the BJP,” he added.
Senior party leaders including Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, MLA Tanvir Sait who took charge as the working president of the KPCC and others were present.
