“Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah has lost his mind. Like a mad man, he keeps making noises occasionally and criticises everything we do. That is only for publicity. There is neither meaning in what he says nor any logic behind it,’’ BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel said in Belagavi on Tuesday.
He told journalists that Congress leaders were speaking against the BJP Governments at the Centre and in the State, only for the sake of publicity.
“They know that they will never come to power any time in the future. That is why they have been making false and baseless allegations against the BJP and are creating a sense of anarchy, only to stay relevant in State politics,” he said.
“Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and other leaders burnt their fingers in trying to cause damage to the RSS. Now, as Mr. Siddaramaiah is trying to do that, he will suffer the same fate. The Congress will also suffer the same fate,’’ he said.
To a query, he said that the RSS is a nationalistic organisation whose aim is to serve society. “It is involved in the task of creating patriotic men. RSS volunteers are not just in the BJP but also, they are part of other parties. Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa and Janata Dal(S) leader P.G.R. Sindhia were also RSS volunteers. It is not proper to drag such an institution into politics,’’ he said.
“The Congress is a divided house in the State and also outside. Over 60 leaders in various States have quit that party after the Chintan Shibir. Senior leaders Mukhyamantri Chandru, Brijesh Kalappa and V.R. Sudarshan have either quit or planning to do so. The State Congress has weakened after the infighting between Mr. Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar. The KPCC president has not been able to appoint office-bearers for two years now. Even in the Rajya Sabha polls, Mr. Siddaramaiah and M. Mallikarjun Kharge are not on the same page,’’ he said.
He said that the BJP will win all seats in the Legislative Council polls and the three Rajya Sabha seats in the State.