Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dismissed allegations of infighting in the ruling Congress in Karnataka.
“There is no infighting in Congress,” he said when his attention was brought to an allegation by the Opposition BJP that the Congress in Karnataka was riven by infighting.
Speaking to reporters on his arrival at Mysuru airport on Tuesday, May 14, to accompany Congress candidates filing their nomination papers for elections to the Legislative Council from South Teachers and South West Teachers’ constituency, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the Congress had fought the recent Lok Sabha elections in the State unitedly and accused the BJP of making such statements for “political reasons”.
Mr. Siddaramaiah also scoffed at the possibility of the BJP destabilising the Congress regime in Karnataka. When reporters raised the issue of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s claim that the Congress government in Karnataka will collapse, Mr. Siddaramaiah asked the Maharashtra Chief Minister to save his government. “He is the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Instead of talking about our government, let him save his government,” he said.
When asked about former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s statement that he would release a pen drive containing information about alleged corruption if the State government was ready to conduct a probe, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he would not like to respond to the JD(S) leader, who makes “hit and run” statements.
BJP-JD(S) alliance
Mr. Siddaramaiah said the BJP-JD (S) alliance will have no impact on the elections to Legislative Council.
The two parties had an alliance in the Lok Sabha polls also, but the understanding did not have any bearing on the elections, he added.
Mr. Siddaramaiah said the sexual harassment charges against Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna too will not affect the elections. The voters of the elections to the Legislative Council are teachers and graduates, who are politically mature people. “They can decide who is right and who is not. They can weigh the work and achievements of the Centre and the State government,” he said.
About the elections to the Legislative Council, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the situation was conducive for the Congress. He said the party had taken the elections seriously. The candidates had been declared about six months in advance, which was convenient for them to meet the voters, he said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah was accompanied by Minister for Social Welfare H.C. Mahadevappa, Minister for Animal Husbandry K. Venkatesh, Minister for Agriculture N. Cheluvarayaswamy and Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Madhu Bangarappa among others at the airport.
Later, Mr. Siddaramaiah accompanied Congress candidates for the elections to the Legislative Council from South Teachers and South West Teachers constituencies viz Marithibbe Gowda and Manjunath respectively when the filed their nomination papers in the office of the Regional Commissioner of Mysuru on Tuesday.
