Karnataka - Bangalore   

‘Advani trivialising democracy’

Bangalore: The Congress has termed the former Deputy Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani’s description of Karnataka politics as a 20-20 match and the Congress as a “team without a captain” as an act of “trivialising democracy and unbecoming of a senior leader.”

Speaking to presspersons here on Sunday, Congress leaders M.P. Prakash and B.L. Shankar said that Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge was their captain at this point of time and captains of opposing teams were BJP president Sadananda Gowda and Janata Dal (Secular) president Merajuddin Patel.

“There is no question of declaring the captain of a non-existent team. There is no team of legislators as yet,” said Mr. Shankar, and wondered how BJP’s chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa was sure of his captaincy when it was uncertain if he would be elected from Shikaripur at all.

“The choice of team is the prerogative of people,” he added.

Mr. Prakash said that BJP’s campaign style showed that it had no serious issues to talk about.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that Karnataka has been “in the news for all the wrong reasons” because of its links with terrorist plots also came in for attack by the Congress.

Mr. Prakash said that Mr. Modi was “insulting Kannadigas” and was “ignorant of the long history of Karnataka.”

He said that Gujarat was “no model of governance” for Karnataka as the State was ahead of it in every sphere, from education to information technology. “People of Karnataka will teach the party a lesson for insulting the State,” said Mr. Prakash.

The Congress has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against an advertisement by the BJP in the electronic media on the theme of terrorism for attempting to “incite hatred against a particular religion.”

Mr. Shankar said that the advertisement held the Congress responsible for delaying execution of Afzal Guru, convicted in the Parliament attack case.

Mr. Prakash said that all appeals for Presidential pardon go through a long procedure and this particular case was no exception. It was being specifically cited to tarnish a community, he added.

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