The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Jaitley takes a dig at Rahul Gandhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 06, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Jaitley takes a dig at Rahul Gandhi

Special Correspondent

‘Discover India’ mission will turn out to be a ‘dangerous discovery’ for the Congress in Karnataka

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

New innings: The former Congress Minister M. Mahadev (left) being welcomed into the BJP by State party president D.V. Sadananda Gowda (right) and BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley in Bangalore on Saturday. Also seen are general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar and the former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa.

BANGALORE: Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Arun Jaitley on Saturday remarked that AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Discover India’ mission would turn out to be a “dangerous discovery” for the Congress in Karnataka.

“Mr. Rahul Gandhi began his campaign of discovery in Uttar Pradesh, and the Congress disappeared from that State after the polls. His discovery show moved to Gujarat, and the Congress disappeared from that State also. Now he has come to Karnataka with his discovery mission. The Congress in Karnataka will meet the same fate of its counterparts in other States,” Mr. Jaitley said while addressing a meeting of party leaders organised here to review the party’s preparations for the elections.

‘We know the land’

He said the ‘Discover India’ trip is only for those who do not know anything about India, its people and its land. “Our leaders like the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa do not need such trips since they know the land and people well as they belong to this place.”

Exhorts party workers

Mr. Jaitley, who is in charge of the BJP’s election campaign in the State, asked party workers to work towards attaining an “absolute majority” in the Assembly. “Getting a simple majority is not enough. We must get an absolute majority so that the State will be free from opportunistic politics, which has been haunting it,” he said.

Mr. Yeddyurappa advised party leaders to desist from launching an extravagant campaign. Instead, they should visit the houses of all voters and personally interact with them.

150 names finalised

He said the party had already finalised the names of 150 candidates , and the names would be sent to the party’s central election committee for clearance.

Party general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar criticised the former Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy for questioning the commitment of MPs from the State, especially the BJP MPs, in protecting Karnataka’s interests. “Let Mr. Kumaraswamy say for how many seconds he spoke about State issues in Parliament when he was an MP from 1994 to 1996,” the BJP leader said and maintained that Mr. Kumaraswamy did not have the moral right to question the commitment of BJP MPs.

Mahadev joins BJP

The former Congress Minister M. Mahadev joined the BJP in the presence of Mr. Jaitley on Saturday, putting an end to speculation on his political moves.

Mr. Mahadev, who was upset with the entry of the former JD(S) leader and his political bete noir, Siddaramaiah, into the Congress, told reporters that he had decided to quit the Congress as he had been humiliated by that party. When asked if he would contest against Mr. Siddaramaiah with whom he had got into a scuffle recently, he said he was ready for it if the BJP leaders wanted him to.

The former Union Minister Ratnamala Savanur, the former Minister and JD(S) leader Muniyappa Muddappa, the former MLC C. Ramesh, Hutti Gold Mines chairman J.C. Patil and Congress leader R.V. Harish also joined the BJP on the occasion.

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

Karnataka