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`AHINDA is not out to grab power'

Staff Correspondent

Siddaramaiah urges people to support AHINDA candidates in the panchayat polls

DAVANGERE: Siddaramaiah, former Deputy Chief Minister, said AHINDA is not trying to grab power from the upper castes as alleged by Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash.

He said AHINDA had been demanding its share of power and certain modifications to the reservation pattern for Assembly and Lok Sabha seats.

Mr. Siddaramaiah, who took exception to the reported remarks of Mr. Prakash, asked him whether he had forgotten the Lohia ideology.

Addressing a public meeting as part of the "Swabhimani Chaitanya Samavesha" here on Wednesday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the coming panchayat elections will be a test for the AHINDA movement. He called upon people not to support those who oppose AHINDA. He appealed to people to support the candidates backed by AHINDA in the panchayat elections.

Mr. Deve Gowda has sought to get the reservation given to Kurubas and Idigas reduced, he said and alleged that though Mr. Deve Gowda had held different positions, he did not initiate steps for the uplift of the backward classes and the poor.

Mr. Siddaramaiah urged the Government to expedite the payment of compensation to farmers who incurred huge losses owing to the recent floods. He also urged the Government to pay support price to onion farmers and take steps to ensure that the prices of agricultural commodities do not decrease drastically. He criticised the inordinate delay in distributing compensation to farmers. Referring to the criticism levelled by Ministers P.G.R. Sindhia and H.D. Kumaraswamy on the Budget presented by him (Mr. Siddaramaiah), he said that Mr. Deve Gowda had appreciated the Budget and said it was a "model budget." The former Minister Vaijnath Patil alleged that Mr. Deve Gowda's sole interest is to promote his sons politically and is ready to sacrifice the interests of the party to achieve it.

H.C. Mahadevappa, C. Narasimhappa, M.L. Hanumanthappa, B.R. Patil, K. Mallappa, Vijayalakshmi, Syed Saifulla, K.G. Maheshwarappa, and Jayamruthsanjaya Swamiji spoke.

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