The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : JD(S), SP collaborating with Congress, says Venkaiah

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Sunday, Apr 20, 2008
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JD(S), SP collaborating with Congress, says Venkaiah

Special Correspondent

Former IPS officer Subhash Bharani joins BJP

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

New role: Subhash Bharani (second from right) being welcomed into the party by BJP leaders in Bangalore on Saturday.

Bangalore: BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday alleged that the Janata Dal (S) and Samajwadi Party were indirectly cooperating with the Congress and were eager to join hands with it in the event of that party coming to power.

Terming the parties as “members of the B team” of the Congress, Mr. Naidu told presspersons that Janata Dal (S) president and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda was making statements supporting the Congress.

“How could these two parties form a government when they had admitted that they were not confident of winning the required number of seats in the elections,” he asked.

The Congress had not yet finalised its lists because it had no leaders and no cadre. Flanked by the chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa, party general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar, State unit president D.V. Sadananda Gowda and the former Minister Jagadish Shettar, Mr. Naidu said the BJP was ahead of others in announcing the lists.

The candidates had started campaigning in their constituencies, he added.

Earlier, the leaders admitted Subhash Bharani, former IPS officer, into the party. Mr. Yeddyurappa said that Mr. Bharani’s entry would enthuse the people, particularly the Dalits, to vote for the BJP, because of his popularity among them.

Inflation

Taking the United Progressive Alliance Government to task for its failure to curb inflation, Mr. Naidu alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia “had bungled”.

Actually, inflation was around 10 per cent and not 7.5 per cent as claimed by the Government. It had failed to check rising prices and the poor had been greatly affected, he said. Suicide by farmers was on the rise.

Mr. Naidu pointed out that allies of the UPA had themselves come out against the Government and there was no cohesion in the alliance, and the BJP was the only alternative.

The party campaign for the Assembly elections would be launched on April 27.

Mr. Bharani said that the BJP was not anti-Dalit and it was not against any groups.

Mr. Bharani said that he would contest the Assembly elections from T. Narsipur constituency if he was given the party ticket.

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