The Hindu : Karnataka News : I will talk to Prakash, says Siddaramaiah

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka

I will talk to Prakash, says Siddaramaiah

Staff Correspondent

‘We will be glad if he joins us’

Sympathy wave claim by BJP termed a farce
‘Congress’s reputation will enable poll victory’

Chitradurga: Congress leader Siddaramaiah has said that the party would welcome leaders from other parties into its fold, provided they believed in its principles.

Speaking to presspersons before inaugurating the S. Nijalingappa memorial here on Monday, he clarified that the Congress was not trying to woo dissident Janata Dal (Secular) leaders to join the party.

Replying to a question, he said he would ask the former Minister M.P. Prakash to join the Congress. “We will talk to him about the present political circumstances. We will be glad if he joins us,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

Asked about his absence at the Janandolan rally, which started from Chitradurga recently, Mr. Siddaramaiah said there was no need to attach any political significance to it. “As I was in Mumbai on some work, I could not be present,” he said.

BJP’s efforts

With regard to reports that the Bharatiya Janata Party was making efforts to bring the JD(S) dissidents into its fold, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that since the BJP was not in position to field candidates in all 224 Assembly constituencies, it was trying to woo people from the JD(S). “The Congress has the strength and power to contest from all constituencies, so it will not do what the BJP is doing,” he asserted.

On the issue of revamping the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Mr. Siddaramaiah said the matter was before the party high command. He was non-committal when asked what he thought about Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna coming back to active politics in the State. In response to remarks that the State Congress lacked strong leadership, he said the party’s reputation was sufficient for it to stage a comeback.

He termed the sympathy wave claim by the BJP a farce. Refuting allegations that the Congress had not effectively highlighted the failures of the JD(S)-BJP Government, he said the party had fought hard to keep them in check on issues such as what he described as the mismanagement in the issuing of ration cards to families living below the poverty line.

Food subsidy

Mr. Siddaramaiah charged the BJP with reducing food subsidy and allocating funds to maths and religious institutions in order to garner votes. He said both JD(S) and the BJP had failed to live up to the expectations of the people, who would give the Congress a sweeping majority in the elections.

Congress MLA G.H. Tippareddy was present.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka